UC-NRLF 


TH€ 

UNIY6RS1TY  Of  CALlfORNlfl 
LIBRARY 


€>L  LIBR1S 


F.  QVTEKUNST. 


PHILADELPHIA. 


THE 


RACTICAL  tlEINTEE, 


A    COMPLETE     MANUAL 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  PRINTING. 


BY 


CHARLES    W.    HEARK 

V    » 


CONTAINING  FULL  DETAILS  CONCERNING  ALL  THE  STYLES  AND 

PROCESSES  OF  PLAIN  AND  ALBUMEN  PAPER  PRINTING 

AND  OF  PRINTING  ON  PORCELAIN, 

WITH 

Jin  female  0f  frintwjj  kg  %  Jtotftor, 

AND  NEARLY  ONE  HUNDRED  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

VALUABLE    TO    BOTH    THE    LEARNER   AND    THE  PRACTICED    PRINTER. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

BENERMAN     &    WILSON. 

1874. 


V** 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874, 

BY  BENERMAN  &  WILSON, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


.,, 


SHERMAN  A  CO.,  PRINTERS. 


PREFACE. 


IN  the. preparation  of  this  work  it  has  been  the  aim  of  the  author 
to  make  it  of  practical  value  to  those  who  are  about  to  commence 
the  study  of  photographic  printing,  or  those  who  desire  to  perfect 
themselves  in  it,  and  for  this  purpose  he  has  endeavored  to  place  in 
it  only  such  information  and  advice  as  can  be  relied  upon,  and  which 
will  aid  the  learner  in  acquiring  speedily  the  modus  operandi  of 
general  Albumen,  Plain  Paper,  and  Porcelain  Printing. 

The  writer  has  purposely,  in  many  chapters  of  this  work,  treated 
of  cases  which  are  not  very  often  found  in  the  majority  of  galleries, 
yet,  as  they  are  in  a  few,  they  have  for  that  reason  been  taken  up 
and  disposed  of. 

All  of  the  different  classes  of  negatives  mentioned  have  been  real 
ones  with  the  author,  and  not  imaginary,  for  they  have  all  at  some 
past  time  been  given  to  him  to  print  from,  and  have  been  "doc- 
tored," printed,  etc.,  by  some  of  the  methods  mentioned. 

It  is  not  the  printing  from  excellent  negatives  that  teaches  the 
learner,  for  fine  prints  from  such  are  very  easily  obtained  ;  but  it  is 
the  printing  from  poor  negatives  that  instructs  him,  and  it  is  on  this 
account  that  many  printers  in  poor  galleries  often  understand  best 
the  printing  of  difficult  negatives,  because  they  are  more  accustomed 
to  print  from  such. 

The  elegant  specimen  of  photography  embellishing  this  work  is 
from  the  well-known  photograph  gallery  of  Mr.  F.  Gutekunst,  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  whose  establishment  is  probably  one  of  the  most 
complete  in  the  world.  On  making  known  to  Mr.  Gutekunst  our 
desire  to  print  the  photographs,  partly  illustrative  of  this  work,  at 


396123 


IV  PREFACE. 

his  gallery,  he  very  kindly  permitted  us  to  do  so,  and  we  hereywith 
pleasure,  present  the  same  to  our  readers. 

The  prints  were  printed,  and  burnished  on  Entrekin's  Oscillating 
Enameller,  by  the  author,  but  the  management  of  the  silvering  and 
toning  baths  was  conducted  by  the  gentleman  who  attends  to  that 
part  of  this  branch  of  the  art,  viz.,  Mr.  Henry  C.  Bridle,  lately  from 
England,  and  we  congratulate  him -in  having  presented  us  with  such 
fine  tones  as  he  has  done.  The  formulae  by  which  these  prints  were 
produced,  kindly  given  to  us  by  Mr.  Bridle,  are  as  follows  : 

Silver  Bath. — Silver,  40  to  45  grains  (according  to  temperature) ; 
nitrate  of  ammonia,  20  grains ;  distilled  or  ice  water,  1  ounce. 
Float  from  forty-five  seconds  to  one  minute. 

Toning  Bath. — Solution  chloride  of  gold,  made  slightly  alkaline 
with  bicarbonate  of  soda,  according  to  the  usual  formulae  for  carbo- 
nate of  soda  toning  baths.  Tone  a  little  purple. 

Fixing  Bath. — Hyposulphite  of  soda,  1  part  to  8  of  water,  and  if 
the  paper  blisters  in  the  washing  soak  the  prints  for  five  minutes  in 
a  solution  of  common  salt. 

Hoping  that  you  will  find  this  work  profitable  to  you,  I  remain, 
Yours  fraternally, 

CHARLES  W.  HEARN. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

The  Printing  Room, 9 

The  Silvering  and  Toning  Room,       .......     12 

The  Drying  Room, 14 


PART  I.— ALBUMEN  PAPER  PRINTING. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Positive  Bath  for  Albumen  Paper, 17 

CHAPTER  II. 

Silvering  the  Albumen  Paper,    .         .         .         .         .         .  . .     27 

CHAPTER  III. 
Drying  the  Paper, '.         .        .30 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Fuming  the  Paper, '      .         .        .         .     31  * 

CHAPTER  V. 

Preservation  of  Sensitive  Albumenized  Paper ;  "Washed  Sensitive 

Paper,.         . 36 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Cutting  the  Paper, 40 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Printing  Boards, .         .         .         . 43 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Keeping  Tally,  ...........     46 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Vignette  Printing  Blocks, .        .     47 

CHAPTER  X. 

Treatment  of  the  Negatives  before  Printing,    .        .        .        .        .50 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

PAGE 

Filling  the  Boards, 57 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Pitting  Vignette  Boards  to  the  Negatives  for  Printing,  ...       60 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Medallion  and  Arch-top  Printing,    . 65 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Fancy  Printing, .71 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Vignette  Cameo  and  Medallion  Vignette  Cameo  Printing,      .         .       74 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Printing  the  Bendann  Backgrounds,         ......       76 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Printing  Intense  Negatives,      ........       81 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Printing  Weak  Negatives, 88 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

A  Few  More  Remarks  about  Printing — Treatment  of  Broken  Nega- 
tives,           ...       91 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Cutting  the  Prints, 94 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Washing  the  Prints,          .         .         . 101 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Acidifying  the  Prints, 103 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Toning  Baths, 106 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Artistic  Toning, 113 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Fixing  Baths  and  Fixing  Prints, 118 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Washing  the  Prints, 120 


CONTENTS.  '  Vll 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PAGE 

Mounting  the  Prints, 125 

CHAPTEE  XXVIII. 
Finishing  the  Prints,         .........     129 


PART  II.— PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING. 

CHAPTEE  I. 
Salting  the  Paper, 136 

CHAPTEE  II. 

Positive  Baths  for  Plain  Salted  Paper, 138 

CHAPTEE  III. 

Silvering  Plain  Salted  Paper, 139 

CHAPTEE  IV. 

Drying,  Fuming,  and  Cutting  the  Paper, 143 

CHAPTEE  V. 

Treatment  of  the  Negatives  before  Printing,  .....     144 

CHAPTEE  VI. 

Printing-in  False  Backgrounds,        .......     148 

CHAPTEE  VII. 

General  Plain  Paper  Printing,          .......     150 

CHAPTEE  VIII. 

Further  Treatment  of  the  Prints  after  Printing,     .         .         .         .151 

CHAPTEE  IX. 

Causes  of  Failures  in  Albumen  and  Plain  Paper  Printing,      .         .     153 


PART  III.— PORCELAIN  PRINTING. 

CHAPTEE  I. 

Selection  of  the  Porcelain  Plates, 166 

CHAPTEE  II. 

Cleaning  the  Porcelain  Plates, 167 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK  III. 

PAGE 

Albumenizing  the  Porcelain  Plates,         .         .         .    '    »        .         .169 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Making  the  Porcelain  Collodion, 170 

CHAPTER  Y. 
Coating,  Fuming,  and  Drying  the  Plates,        .....     174 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Porcelain  Printing  Boards,       .         .         .         .         .         .        .         .176 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Placing  the  Sensitive  Plate  on  the  Board  for  Printing,  .         .         .177 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Printing  Vignette  Porcelains, 178 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Printing  Medallion  Porcelains, 179 

CHAPTER  X. 
Washing  the  Porcelains,  .........     180 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Toning  the  Porcelains,      .........     181 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Fixing  the  Porcelains, 182 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Final  Washing  of  the  Porcelains, 184 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Drying  and  Tinting  the  Porcelains, 185 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Varnishing  the  Porcelains,       .         . 186 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Causes  of  Failures  in  Porcelain  Printing,        .....     187 


THE  PRACTICAL  PRINTER. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  PEINTING-EOOM. 

FOR  good  success  at  printing,  it  is  necessary  that  the  printing- 
room  should  be  convenient  to  work  in,  and  well  supplied  with  those 
materials,  &c.,  which  are  so  necessary  for  fine  work. 

A  good  printer,  like  a  good  surgeon,  may  do  very  well  with  a  lew 
conveniences,  but  he  will  more  likely  do  better  with  more.  A  good 
draughtsman  may  do  very  well  with  his  pen  and  parallel-rulers,  but 
he  can  do  much  better  by  the  use  of  a  set  of  instruments,  and  that 
necessity,  a  "T  square." 

The  term  instruments,  in  the  general  sense  of  the  word,  is  ap- 
plied to  anything  by  which  an  effort  is  brought  about,  and  con- 
sequently our  printing-boards,  vignette-blocks,  &c.,  &c.,  are  instru- 
ments in  the  case  of  the  photographic  printer,  as  well  as  the  case  of 
surgical  tools  are  instruments  in  the  hands  of  the  surgeon.  A  skil- 
ful workman  when  once  asked,  by  the  foreman  of  an  establishment, 
what  was  the  instrument  he  had  used  to  enable  him  to  do  his  work 
so  nicely,  replied  :  "  My  hands  are  the  best  instruments  I  have  out- 
side of  my  brain." 

So  it  is  with  the  photographic  printer,  for  his  hands  are  subor- 
dinate to  that  mightier  and  more  valuable  instrument,  the  brain  ; 
and  consequently  "  a  thinking  man  "  is  far  more  successful  than  a 
merely  mechanical  one  (although  the  latter  may  have  all  the  con- 
veniences possible),  for  "the  brain  conceives  what  the  hands  exe- 
cute ;"  and  if  a  person  does  not  use  his  brain  to  good  advantage, 
verily  his  work  will  show  it. 

Now,  the  whole  attention  of  the  brain  can  be  used  very  advan- 

2 


10   /,    ;   t  cj  c-  ^THj3  FRACTAL   PRINTER. 


tageously  in  the  printing-room  of  a  gallery,  as  well  as  in  the  "  sky- 
light and  the  dark-room."  There  is  a  great  mistake  often  made  in 
the  "fitting  out"  of  a  photograph  gallery,  in  placing  about  all  of 
the  money  in  "  the  reception-room,"  and  leaving  a  few  dollars  to  go 
into  the  printing  department,  and  a  few  more,  perhaps,  in  the  dark 
and  operating  rooms.  A  good  housewife  does  not  commence  at  the 
parlor  and  furnish  down  to  the  kitchen,  but  she  commences  first  at 
the  culinary  department,  and  after  she  has  furnished  that  (her 
work-room),  she  then  commences  to  furnish  her  sitting-room,  and 
finally  her  parlor.  This  is  the  way  it  should  be  with  the  photogra- 
pher :  he  should  look  first  to  the  skylight  and  then  to  the  nicely  fit- 
ting out  of  this,  the  operating-room,  which  of  course  includes  the 
cameras,  lenses,  backgrounds,  &c.,  &c.  He  then  sees  to  his  dark- 
room, and  next,  but  by  no  means  least,  he  sees  to  the  printing-room, 
and  then,  finally  and  lastly,  to  his  reception-room,  which  he  fur- 
nishes as  his  means  will  permit. 

An  elegantly  furnished  reception-room  does  not  vouch  for  good 
work,  although  it  may  indicate  that  the  proprietor  had  money,  or 
that  he  had  found  somebody  who  would  trust. 

A  customer,  when  she  wishes  her  "  likeness  taken,"  does  not  look 
to  see  if  the  reception-room  is  nicely  furnished,  and  thus  decide  as 
to  whether  she  will  be  suited  or  not ;  not  at  all,  she  wishes  to  see 
samples  of  work,  and  then  decides.  And  since  this  is  so,  should  we 
not  endeavor  to  have  conveniences,  &c.,  in  doing  our  work,  so  that 
the  samples  and  work  in  general  will  be  excellent,  since  it  is  this, 
and  not  the  elegance  of  the  reception-room,  that  brings  in  the  cus- 
tomers ? 

Another  illustration  that  the  elegance  of  the  apartments,  &c.,  is 
not  the  criterion  by  which  the  customer  judges  the  work  of  the  pho- 
tographer is  very  well  illustrated  in  that  of  a  well-known  Parisian 
gallery,  where  the  patrons  of  the  establishment  are  obliged  to  leave 
their  carriages  at  the  entrance  of,  and  walk  through  a  narrow  lane, 
up  three  flights  of  stairs,  and  directly  into  the  operating-room,  as 
the  gallery  has  no  reception-room  whatever  worthy  of  mention. 
The  ladies  usually  make  their  engagements  through  a  gentleman 
friend,  and  then  proceed,  all  attired,  in  their  carriages  to  the  studio, 
and  are  then  immediately  posed.  It  may  be  well  to  mention  here 
that  the  patrons  are  obliged  to  keep  their  engagements  to  within  five 
minutes,  or  so,  or  they  lose  their  appointment  for  that  day. 

The  general  opinion  among  photographers  is,  that  any  place  will 
do  for  a  printing-room,  and  it  is  on  this  principle  that  printers  are 
so  well  known  to  have  very  inconvenient  rooms,  &c.,  where  they 
almost  invariably  are  obliged  to  labor  under  extreme  difficulties. 


THE 


11 


Printing-rooms  should  be  so  arranged  that  the  poor  printer  will  not 
freeze  in  the  winter  nor  roast  in  the  summer ;  and,  outside  of  the 
printer's  own  personal  comfort,  the  temperature  of  the  rooms  is  a 
matter  worthy  of  the  strictest  attention  on  the  part  of  the  photogra- 
pher, or  else  he  cannot  expect  good  work,  and  if  he  does  expect  it, 
without  proper  attention  being  given  to  the  conditions  under  which 
the  negatives  are  printed,  then  he  is  sure  to  be  disappointed. 

The  negatives  should  no  more  be  printed  out  of  doors  in  the  win- 
ter-time (more  especially  if  the  day  is  very  cold)  than  they  ought 
to  be  taken  there,  posing  and  all  being  accomplished,  while  there 
is  light  sufficient  to  enable  the  photographer  to  "take  a  picture." 
As  before  said,  the  fitting  out  of  the  printing-room  is  a  matter  of 
the  utmost  importance,  and  although  it  has  not  been  recognized  by 
the  many  photographers,  yet  it  has  by  the  few. 

I  will,  in  the  first  three  figures  of  this  book,  illustrate  what  may 
be  termed  model  printing,  silvering,  and  toning  rooms.  The  orig- 
inal rooms  may  be  recognized  by  those  persons  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  gallery  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Lamson,  Portland,  Me.,  as  they  are 
almost  similar  to  his  ;  indeed,  they  were  originally  intended  to  be 
exactly  like  them,  but  were  afterwards  changed  a  little,  as  I  wished 
to  give  a  model  suite  of  rooms  rather  than  to  copy  any  particular 
ones. 

The  size  of  the  main  room,  Fig.  1,  is  10  x  15  x  10  feet.  A  is  the 
printing-shelf,  upon  which  the  negative-boards  are  placed  out  to 
print.  B  is  the  sash  of  glass,  through  which  the  light  enters  on  the 
shelf,  and  which  sash  is  kept  in  place  by  the  hooks  C.  D  is  a  window 
which  swings  back  and  forth  by  means  of  the  hinges  D'.  This  win- 
dow, when  closed,  is  fastened  by  the  button  E.  This  window  was 
arranged  to  permit  the  printer  to  open  it  in  the  winter-time  and 
sweep  the  snow  from  the  glass,  without  the  trouble  of  removing  his 
frames  and  then  taking  the  sash  of  ground-glass  in.  There  is  an- 
other sash  of  plain  glass  made  which  is  placed  out,  in  place  of  the 
ground  one,  when  it  is  so  desired  by  the  printer.  F  is  the  window- 
cord  by  which  the  curtain  is  pulled  up  or  let  down,  as  occasion  re- 
quires. G  is  the  drawer  in  which  the  albumen  paper  is  placed  when 
it  is  ready  for  printing.  H  is  the  drawer  in  which  the  prints  are 
placed  when  printed,  through  the  little  aperture  K,  which  is  cut  in 
the  bench  and  supplied  with  a  cover  of  tin  or  zinc,  so  as  to  avoid 
opening  the  drawer  so  often  as  to  discolor  the  whites  of  the  prints 
therein  contained,  L  is  the  drawer  in  which  the  albumen-paper  is 
kept.  M  is  a  drawer  in  which  the  plain  salted  paper  may  be  placed  ; 
and  K  is  another  drawer  in  which  the  imsalted  paper  can  be  placed. 
P  P  are  negatives  which  are  to  be  printed,  and  which,  when  they 


12    yv    ;  THE   FRACTIGA.L   PRINTER. 

are  printed,  are  temporarily  placed  as  at  F,  until  they  are  filed  away, 
which  is  done  in  another  room. 

The  shelves  K  K  R  are  also  negative  shelves,  which  are  used  for 
special  purposes,  such  as  "the  family  negatives,"  &c.,  &c.    The 


FIG.  1 


wide  shelf  is  made  for  the  storing  away  of  negative-boards,  vign- 
ette-blocks, porcelain  printing-frames,  &c.,  all  of  which  are  kept 
in  order.  The  filling  of  the  boards,  &c.,  will  be  spoken  of  further 
on ;  suffice  it,  for  the  present,  to  say  that  this  filling  is  done  on 
the  bench  T.  U  is  the  door  leading  to  the  "silvering  and  toning 
rooms."  V  is  the  fuming-box,  which  will  also  be  explained  further 
on.  W  is  the  box  in  which  the  old  or  used  hypo  bath  is  poured, 
and  zinc  is  thrown  into  it.  X  is  a  bench  which  is  used  for  one 
thing  and  another,  also  for  keeping  bottles,  &c.,  upon. 


THE  SILVERING  AND  TONING  BOOM. 


The  principal  use  of  this  room  is  to  sensitize  the  paper  after  it  is 
albumenized,  or  in  the  case  of  the  plain  paper,  after  it  is  salted, 
and  then  later  in  the  day,  when  the  sensitizing  is  through  with, 


THE   SILVERING   AND   TONING   ROOM. 


13 


to  tone  and  fix,  as  well  as  to  wash  the  prints  in,  all  of  which  things 
can  be  done  without  at  all  interfering  with  each  other. 

A  is  a  dark  curtain,  which  in  the  figure  is  partly  raised,  but  dur- 
ing the  silvering  and  toning  processes  it  is  brought  down  to  A',  and 
the  white  bleached  cloth  screen  B  (which  is  shaded  in  the  figure  so 


FIG.  2. 


as  to  show  it  more  distinctly)  covers  the  rest  of  the  glass,  and  thus, 
in  the  toning,  a  soft  and  diffused  light  is  given  to  that  part  of  the 
room  (the  shelf  C)  where  the  toning  is  done.  D  is  the  silvering-dish, 
and  D'  is  the  place  where  this  silvering-dish  is  kept  when  not  in 
use.  E  is  where  the  kettle  of  potash  is  kept  for  the  purpose  of  clean- 
ing old  plates.  F  is  where  the  nitric  acid  tray  is  kept.  G  G  are 
two  sinks.  H  is  a  shelf  on  which  the  toning-bath  bottles  may  be 
kept.  K  is  a  rack  with  three  overlapping  pieces  of  wood,  to  which 
there  are  a  number  of  spring  clips  attached  which  hold  the  pictures 
while  draining,  as  they  are  removed  from  the  water.  L  is  a  wash- 
ing-tank which  has  a  perforated  false  bottom  through  which  the 
water  passes  into  the  lower  part,  and  thence  into  the  waste  pipe  L'. 
The  stopcock  M  is  adjusted  after  the  tank  becomes  three-quarters 
filled,  so  that  it  will  permit  the  water  to  flow  out  as  fast  as  it  enters 
through  the  pipe  N".  P  P  is  an  overflow  pipe,  which  conducts  the 
water,  when  it  reaches  that  place,  into  the  waste  pipe  L'.  E  is  the 
place  where  the  hypo  dish  is  kept.  S  is  the  place  where  the  two- 
gallon  hypo  bottle  is  placed.  This  bottle  is  always  kept  full  of  a 


14 


THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


saturated  solution  of  hyposulphite  of  soda.     Y  is  the  door  that  leads 
into  the  drying-room. 

THE  DRYING-BOOM. 

FIG.  3. 


This  room  was  intended  originally  to  only  dry  the  paper,  but  it 
has  finally  been  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  mostly  all  connected 
with  porcelain  printing. 


Graduate. 


Filtering  Funnel. 


Wide-mouth  Bottle. 


A  is  the  gas  stove  by  which  the  room  is  heated.     B  is  the  paper 
5  fastened  to  the  clips  for  drying.     C  is  a  shelf  on  which  the  silver- 


THE   DRYING-ROOM. 


15 


bath  bottles,  as  well  as  the  collodio-chloride  bottles,  are  placed. 
D  D  are  porcelain  plates  each  hung  upon  two  nails. 


THE  NECESSARY  DISHES,  SCALES,  GRADUATES, 
CHEMICALS,  ETC. 

No.  wanted.   . 

Whole  Size  Porcelain  Dish, 1 

Half  Size  "  " 1 

Scales,  Apothecaries',  1  pair. 

Filtering-Paper I  2  packs— 

(  one  large,  one  small. 

Test-Tube 2 

Hydrometer, 1 

Filtering-Funnels,     .-.- 4  or  5  of  various  sizes. 

Glass  Mortar  and  Pestle, 1 

Large  Iron  Kettle,     .  1 

fl  sixteen  ounce, 
Graduates, -^  1  eight  ounce, 

(l  one-eighth  ounce. 

Tack  Hammer, 1 

Wide-Mouth  Bottles, 12  of  various  sizes. 

Ground-Glass,  .  (  4  number  of  various 

(  S1Z6S. 

Silver  Knife, .1 

Iron  Uprights, 12 


Hydrometer. 


Test  Tube. 


Iron  Upright  for  the  Printing- 
frames  to  rest  upon. 


Besides  the  above  there  are  a  number  of  other  dishes,  &c. ,  which 
are  needed,  and  which  will  be  mentioned  further  on  in  various  parts 
of  this  work. 


16 


THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


CHEMICALS. 


Acid,  Acetic. 

Benzole. 

Oil,  Bergamot. 

"      Citric. 

Calcium  Chloride. 

"    Lavender. 

"      Hydrochloric. 

Camphor. 

"    Rosemary. 

"      Muriatic. 

Cotton,  Filtering  and  Negative. 

Potash,  Caustic. 

"      Nitric. 

Ether,  Sulphuric. 

"        Nitrate. 

"      Oxalic. 

Glass,  Porcelain. 

"       Cyanide. 

"      Sulphuric. 

Glue,  Bonnet. 

Silver,  Nitrate. 

"      Tartaric. 

Glycerin. 

Sodium,  Chloride. 

Alcohol,  95°  and  Common. 

Gold,  Chloride. 

Soda,  Bicarbonate. 

Alum. 

Gum  Arabic. 

Soda,  Sal. 

Ammonia,  Aqua. 

Lime,  Carbonate. 

Turpentine,  Spirits. 

Ammonium  Chloride. 

"     Chloride. 

Wax,  White,  or  Virgin. 

"          Nitrate. 

Lye. 

Whiting. 

Beeswax. 

Magnesium  Nitrate. 

The  above  are  about  all  the  chemicals  that  are  used  in  the  print- 
ing department  of  photography.  The  object  of  the  writer  in  nam- 
ing all  the  necessary  dishes,  scales,  graduates,  and  chemicals,  is  to 
aid  the  beginner  at  photography  in  selecting  those  things  which  are 
indispensable  in  photographic  printing,  as  he  will  at  times  need 
them  all,  and  if  he  gets  them  in  the  first  place  it  will  save  much 
trouble  afterwards  in  obtaining  them. 


Part  I. 

ALBUMEN    PAPER    PRINTING. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  POSITIVE  BATH  FOE  ALBUMEN  PAPER. 

To  prepare  the  paper  so  that  it  will  become  sensitive  to  the  light 
it  is  necessary  to  float  it  upon  a  positive  nitrate  of  silver  bath ;  so 
called  on  account  of  its  being  the  means  by  which  the  paper  is  en- 
abled to  receive  the  positive  impression  from  the  negative.  This 
bath  is  chiefly  composed  of  crystal  nitrate  of  silver  and  pure  water. 
The  strength  should  vary,  according  to  the  temperature  of  the 
weather  and  the  brand  of  paper  used. 

Mr.  John  B.  Clemons  recommends  for  his  brand  of  albumen-paper 
a  bath  of  thirty  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water,  for 
summer,  and  forty-eight  grains  strong  for  winter ;  besides  varying 
the  time  of  floating  the  paper,  according  to  the  time  of  the  year. 

In  the  year  1871  there  was  considerable  discussion  in  the  leading 
photographic  publications  as  to  whether  a  strong  or  a  weak  bath 
was  best  for  printing.  Many  of  the  leading  photographers  were  in 
favor  of  a  strong,  and  about  as  many  more  in  favor  of  a  weak  bath. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  a  weak  silver  bath  would  necessitate  a 
longer  time  for  floating  than  a  strong  bath  would,  and  also  that  a 
bath  weak  in  the  number  of  grains  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water 
would  be  more  economical. 

Now,  this  is  a  mistake.  When  a  sheet  of  salted  albumen-paper  is 
floated  upon  a  bath  of  nitrate  of  silver,  the  salt  in  the  albumen  will 
take  up  the  silver  which  it  needs,  whether  the  bath  is  a  strong  or  a 
weak  one,  and  chloride  of  silver  will  be  formed.  The  albumen  will 
also  take  up  some  in  the  form  of  albuminate  of  silver  (Yogel's 
"Handbook") ;  and  then,  if  the  sheet  is  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
bath  too  long  a  time,  there  will  be  more  of  the  solution  absorbed 


18  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

than  what  is  really  necessary,  which  will  penetrate  through  the  sur- 
face and  far  into  the  albumen .  The  paper  thus  floated  and  printed 
will  have  a  sunk-in  appearance,  owing  to  the  silver  discoloring, 
which  is  absorbed  far  into  the  albumen,  as  before  said,  during  the 
lengthened  time  of  sensitizing. 

This  sunk-in  appearance  is  not  the  only  fault  with  long  floating  on 
a  weak  bath;  but  the  albumen  will  be  dissolved  off,  being  left  in  the 
bath,  and  the  paper  will  not  print  brilliant,  but  dull ;  and  often  flat 
prints  will  be  the  result. 

A  strong  bath  necessitates  a  long  time  of  floating,  because  the 
albumen  on  the  paper  is  at  first  coagulated  by  the  strong  silver  solu- 
tion, and  it  takes  quite  a  number  of  seconds  for  the  albumen  to  com- 
mence to  take  up  what  silver  it  needs  ;  whereas  the  albumen  on  the 
paper,  not  being  coagulated  by  the  silver  in  a  weak  bath,  it  will 
more  readily  absorb  that  silver  which  is  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  a  good  print. 

From  this  we  find  : 

1st.  That  a  strong  silver  bath  requires  a  long  time  of  floating. 

2d.  That  a  weak  silver  bath  requires  a  short  time  of  floating. 

3d.  That  a  medium  silver  bath  requires  a  medium  time  of  floating. 

There  are,  however,  bad  results  obtainable  by  floating  the  paper 
a  long  time  on  a  strong  bath,  as  well  as  floating  a  short  time  on  a 
weak  bath. 

When  we  float  it  a  long  time  on  a  strong  bath,  it  will,  when  printed, 
make  a  bold  and  brilliant  print,  but  the  shadows  will  be  very  much 
bronzed,  even  when  the  prints  are  mounted.  When  we  float  the 
paper  a  short  time  on  a  weak  bath  it  will  not  be  at  all  bronzed,  but 
the  prints  are  likely  to  be  weak  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  float 
the  paper  a  long  time  on  this  kind  of  a  bath,  the  silver  will  be,  as 
has  been  said,  sunk-in,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  expressed,  the  paper 
will  be  "woolly." 

I  do  not  mean  by  the  first  two  remarks  made  above  that  the  ex- 
tremes are  to  be  indulged  in,  for  then,  in  a  measure,  arises  the  bad 
results  named,  and  in  the  case  of  the  weak  bath  the  abuse  of  the 
remark  will  be  more  especially  a  source  of  failure. 

We  cannot,  to  obtain  good  results,  use  a  bath  weaker  than  35 
grains,  or  stronger  than  60  grains  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water, 
with  many  of  the  brands  of  paper  which  are  generally  used,  while 
with  other  brands,  30  grains  in  summer  and  60  to  70  in  winter  are 
best. 

For  the  excellent  brand  of  paper  known  as  the  "  Berlin  "  I  found, 
with  the  class  of  negatives  I  printed  when  using  that  paper,  that  a 
medium-strong  bath,  say  of  40  grains  in  summer  and  55  to  60  grains 


THE  POSITIVE  BATH  FOR  ALBUMEN  PAPER.      19 

in  winter,  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water,  was  best ;  while 
with  the  "Hovey"  brand  of  paper  a  bath  of  not  more  than  33,  or 
less  than  28  grains  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water,  with  25  seconds 
floating,  was  necessary  during  the  summer-time  ;  and  in  the  winter, 
when  the  negatives  are  printed  on  the  roof,  I  have  known  of  a  bath 
of  70  grains  of  silver  alone,  and  from  2  to  3  minutes'  floating,  to  be 
required  to  obtain  good  prints  from  the  very  thin  negatives  that  were 
made. 

A  weak  bath  loses  so  much,  after  silvering  a  dozen  sheets  or  so, 
that  it  commences  to  make  itself  felt,  and  consequently  needs 
strengthening  about  all  of  the  time. 

A  strong  bath  loses  also,  but  the  silver  is  not  taken  up  in  so  large 
a  proportion  as  it  is  in  the  weak  bath,  and  the  strong  bath  can  be 
used  for  a  much  longer  time,  even  until  there  will  not  be  enough 
solution  to  sensitize  the  paper,  without  giving  the  printer  any 
trouble  whatever. 

The  prints  will  be  better  in  many  respects  with  an  average  bath 
than  with  either  the  extremes,  as  a  trial  will  show  to  the  observant 
printer. 

All  of  the  solution  that  is  on  the  paper  should  be,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, on  the  surface  of  the  albumen,  to  prevent  "  woolliness,"  and 
so  as  to  have  bold,  vigorous  prints  ;  which  can  be  easily  freed  from 
the  nitrate  of  silver  in  the  washing. 

In  the  making  of  the  bath,  both  good  nitrate  of  silver  and  water 
are  required.  In  all  cases  where  pure  water  is  required,  filtered 
rain  or  clean  ice-water  will  answer. 

To  make  a  bath  of  60  ounces  of  solution,  and  40  grains  strong  of 
nitrate  of  silver  to  the  ounce,  the  number  of  grains  of  silver  required 
would  be  2400  grains,  or  5  ounces. 

Take  a  large,  wide-mouth  bottle  and  add  60  ounces  of  pure  water 
thereto.  Now  carefully  weigh  out  5  ounces  of  good  nitrate  of  silver 
and  add  it  to  the  water  in  the  bottle.  Dissolve  thoroughly,  by  re- 
peated shakings  of  the  contents  of  the  bottle,  which  is  very  easily 
done  without  spilling  the  liquid,  by  holding  the  top  of  the  bottle 
firmly  with  the  left  hand  and  revolving  the  bottom  in  a  circular  mo- 
tion, in  a  steady  and  even  manner,  with  the  right. 

This  bath  is  called  "plain  nitrate  of  silver  bath,"  because  of  its 
being  composed  simply  of  nitrate  of  silver  and  water. 

This  bath  is  used  by  a  great  many  excellent  photographers 
throughout  the  country,  except  that  the  strength  of  it  differs,  some- 
times being  greater  and  then  again  often  less  than  the  strength 
given  above. 

Mr.  H.  T.  Anthony,  of  New  York,  was  the  first  to  advise  the  use 


20  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

of  alum  in  the  printing-bath,  and  since  the  discovery  of  it  for  that 
purpose  it  has  become  quite  universally  used.  It  is,  indeed,  the  best 
thing  that  can  be  added  to  the  bath  to  give  brilliancy  and  richness 
of  tone  to  the  prints.  The  theory  of  the  alum,  as  being  an  improve- 
ment when  used  in  the  printing-bath,  is  as  follows  : 

The  alum  hardens  the  surface  of  the  albumen-paper  when  it  is 
floated  upon  a  silver  bath  containing  it,  so  that  the  solution  is  kept 
more  on  the  surface,  and  when  the  paper  is  quickly  dried  the  result- 
ing prints  appear  very  brilliant,  printing  finely,  especially  in  the 
shadows,  and  are  more  easily  and  better  toned  and  fixed,  and  the 
final  washing  is  more  likely  to  be  thoroughly  done. 

A  small  lump  of  alum  is  placed  in  the  funnel  through  which  the 
bath  is  filtered,  and  the  solution,  as  it  filters,  will  take  up  the  quan- 
tity it  needs. 

Mr.  John  K.  Clemons  has  recommended  the  use  of  glycerin  in  the 
printing-bath,  in  the  proportion  of  1£  ounces  of  pure  glycerin  to 
every  16  ounces  of  solution.  It  has  been  used  most  successfully  by 
many  photographers,  and  it  is  especially  a  good  thing  for  his  brand 
of  paper,  when  it  is  floated  for  the  space  of  one  minute  on  a  bath  of 
30  grains  (during  the  summer-time)  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  the  ounce 
of  water. 

Sal  soda  is  often  added  to  the  silver  bath  in  the  proportion  of  an 
ounce  of  a  saturated  solution  of  the  soda  to  a  bath  of  sixty  ounces. 
On  adding  this  the  bath  will  immediately  turn  milky,  and  after 
the  solution  has  been  thoroughly  stirred  it  should  be  allowed  to 
settle  for  awhile  and  then  filtered  into  another  bottle  before  use, 
leaving  the  carbonate  of  silver  (the  deposit)  in  the  first  bottle. 
When  through  silvering  the  paper,  pour  the  solution  back  into  the 
bottle  where  the  deposit  is  and  again  shake  the  contents.  In  the 
morning  the  solution  will  be  thoroughly  clear,  although  the  bath  may 
have  been  very  much  discolored  when  it  was  poured  into  the  bottle 
the  night  before. 

Always  let  a  sediment  be  in  the  bottle,  and  every  other  day  add  a 
few  drops  of  the  soda  solution  to  the  bath.  Keep  on  "  adding  solu- 
tion" made  up  as  above.  A  few  ounces  of  the  solution  should  be 
added  to  the  printing-bath  every  night  after  use,  so  as  to  keep  the 
quantity  up  to  a  certain  number  of  ounces. 

I  have  used  a  bath  prepared  as  above  for  eight  months,  and  al- 
though the  bath,  when  poured  from  the  silvering-dish  at  night,  was 
often  as  black  as  a  coal,  it  never  failed  to  be  clear  in  the  morning,  if 
there  was  a  sediment  on  the  bottom  of  the  bottle. 

Citric  acid  is  also  sometimes  added  to  the  printing-bath,  in  a 


THE   POSITIVE   BATH   FOR   ALBUMEN   PAPER.  21 

greater  or  less  degree,  according  to  the  time  the  paper  is  required  to 
be  kept,  for  this  is  principally  the  reason  why  the  acid  is  added. 

When  the  paper  is  only  required  to  be  kept  a  day  or  so  after 
sensitizing,  so  as  to  prevent  it  from  turning  yellow  by  being  kept 
over  night,  on  account  of  a  sudden  storm,  &c.,  the  solution  is  made 
a  very  little  acid,  viz.,  a  few  drops  of  a  solution  of  citric  acid,  20 
grains,  water  1  ounce.  If  the  paper  is  desired  to  be  kept  white  for 
a  longer  time  than  a  couple  of  days,  then  more  of  the  acid  should  be 
added  (see  Chapter  V,  Part  I).  Fume  fifteen  minutes.  The  paper 
will  print  a  little  red,  but  it  will  most  probably  be  very  rich,  although 
this  will  be  according  to  the  quality  of  the  negatives,  &c. 

The  "citric  acid  printing-bath  "  should  be  tested  every  morning  be- 
fore using  it,  to  ascertain  the  degree  of  acidity.  Never  let  your  bath 
be  acid  with  nitric  acid  unless  it  is  very,  very  slightly  so,  as  the  prints 
besides  being  of  a  poor  (photographically  considered)  red  color  are 
very  liable  to  be  weak  and  flat. 

Nitrate  of  ammonia  is  very  often  added  to  the  printing-bath  in 
the  proportion  of  as  many  grains  of  the  nitrate  to  the  ounce  of  water 
as  there  may  have  been  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver  added.  After 
adding  the  nitrate  of  ammonia  to  the  printing-bath  make  slightly 
alkaline  with  liq.  ammonia. 

Sunning  the  bath  for  about  half  an  hour  or  so  after  the  nitrate  of 
ammonia  has  been  added  and  the  solution  made  alkaline  is  a  good 
plan.  Filter  before  use.  I  will  here  give  a  few  formulae  for  baths 
for  printing  which  I  have  used  and  know  to  be  excellent. 

No.  1.— Crystal  Nitrate  of  Silver, 40  grains. 

Nitrate  of  Ammonia, 35 

Filtered  Eain-water, 1  ounce. 

Saturated  Solution  Bicarbonate  of  Soda,  about  .       .  8  to  10  drops, 

or  enough  to  make  the  bath  slightly  alkaline.  In  place  of  the  sodium, 
liq.  ammonia  can  be  used  equally  as  well. 

Make  up  a  sufficient  quantity,  and  before  filtering  through  cotton 
place  a  lump  of  alum  in  the  funnel  about  quarter  the  size  of  an  or- 
dinary butternut. 

The  above  bath  is  for  summer  use ;  in  the  winter,  both  the  nitrates 
should  be  increased. 

BTo.  2.— Nitrate  of  Silver, 2%  ounces. 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 2 

Glycerin, 3 

Pure  Water, 40 

Make  it  a  little  alkaline  with  aqua  ammonia.     This  bath  is  very 


22  THE  PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

good,  indeed,  for  the  demons  brand  of  paper,  and  can  be  used  also 
with  the  Hovey  brand,  but  a  bath  made  as  below  is  better  for  this 
particular  paper,  viz.,  the  Hovey  : 

No.  3.— Nitrate  of  Silver,     .        .       ';  «>--v  '•'.    '    .••*  I f    .    30  grains. 

Nitrate  of  Ammonia, .30        " 

Pure  Water, 1  ounce. 

Make  it  a  little  alkaline  with  aqua  ammonia,  and  when  about  to 
filter  the  solution  place  a  small  lump  of  common  alum  in  the  funnel, 
or  if  you  prefer  add  a  grain  of  the  alum  to  every  ounce  of  the  solu- 
tion. The  latter  is  probably  the  best.  The  alum,  if  added  in  this 
way,  should  be  added  before  the  bath  is  filtered. 

Float  the  paper,  being  sure  that  it  is  a  little  damp  beforehand,  from 
twenty  to  thirty  seconds  ;  draw  over  a  rod,  and  blot  off  the  super- 
fluous quantity  of  silver  that  is  still  on  the  paper,  between  large 
sheets  of  white  bibulous  paper.  Dry  quickly  and  thoroughly,  and 
fume  ten  minutes. 

The  above  formulae  and  modes  of  working  are  for  summer  use,  but 
for  winter  the  temperature  of  the  solution  should  not  be  below  50°, 
and  the  strength  of  the  nitrates  should  be  increased  as  well  as  the 
time  of  floating.  Print,  in  the  winter,  in  the  printing-room  under 
glass,  and  keep  the  temperature  of  the  room  not  below  50°  or 
above  60°. 

There  are  some  photographers  who  prefer  an.  acid  positive  bath 
to  an  alkaline  or  a  neutral  one,  because  the  resulting  prints  are  red, 
and  the  red  tone  is  more  easily  obtained  (?),  so  they  say. 

If  the  bath  is  acid  with  nitric  acid  the  result  will  not  be  so  fine 
as  it  would  be  if  it  was  acid  with  citric  acid,  because,  if  the  bath 
was  any  more  than  very  slightly  acid  with  the  nitric,  the  paper  floated 
upon  it  when  printed  will  have,  as  above  said,  a  disagreeable  red 
tone  to  it,  often  being  weak  and  flat.  The  best  results  are  obtain- 
able with  a  bath  which  is  either  a  trifle  alkaline  or  just  neutral.  A 
good  way  to  regulate  the  alkalinity  of  the  printing-bath  is  to  observe 
how  the  paper  prints,  and  then  act  accordingly. 

If  it  prints  too  blue,  a  drop  or  so  of  nitric  acid  should  be  added  to 
the  bath  ;  if  it  prints  too  red  then  add  a  few-  drops  of  liquor  ammo- 
nia. In  testing  this  way,  however,  the  printer  should  be  sure  that 
the  paper  is  properly  fumed,  and  that  the  results  are  not  occa- 
sioned by  poor  judgment  in  fuming.  Place  a  piece  of  blue  litmus- 
paper  into  the  solution  before  you  commence  to  "  doctor"  the  bath, 
and  note  the  exact  color  it  turns. 

Nitric  acid  should  always  be  added  to  the  positive  bath  when  it  is  not 


THE   POSITIVE   BATH   FOR   ALBUMEN   PAPER.  23 

desired  to  make  the  solution  acid  for  the  purpose  of  printing,  but  only 
to  lessen  the  alkalinity  of  the  bath. 

RECTIFYING  THE  POSITIVE  BATH. 

The  bath,  after  it  has  been  used  for  some  time,  discolors,  owing 
to  the  albumen  of  the  paper  being  left  in  it  after  floating,  or  dirt 
and  other  impurities  having  got  into  it  through  accident ;  leaving 
the  dish  uncovered  when  the  bath  was  not  in  use,  imperfect  nitra- 
tions, and  chemical  matter  which  was  impure,  and  by  age  having 
showed  itself. 

Permanganate  of  Potash. 

When  the  bath  is  only  a  little  discolored,  and  is  a  new  one,  this 
solution  will  for  awhile  answer  capitally  : 

Permanganate  of  Potash, 60  grains. 

Pure  Water, 6  ounces. 

Add  about  half  a  dozen  drops,  and  stirthe  solution  well  with  a  clean 
glass  rod.  At  first  the  bath  will  turn  a  dark  rose  color,  and  it  will 
then  considerably  lighten,  and  if  it  does  not  stay  so,  but  utterly  dis- 
appears, then  add  a  few  drops  more  until  a  temporary  color  appears. 
Now  place  the  bath  out  in  strong  sunlight  for  half  an  hour,  and 
after  it  has  thoroughly  cleared,  and  the  rose  color  has  disappeared, 
the  organic  matter  can,  in  a  great  measure  be  filtered  out. 

Mr.  Elbert  Anderson  in  his  book,  The  Skylight  and  the  Dark- 
Room,  accounts  for~the  action  of  this  permanganate  as  follows  : 

"As  soon  as  the  permanganate  comes  in  contact  with  the  bath 
the  organic  matter  becomes  oxidized,  and  permanganic  acid  is  lib- 
erated, forming  permanganate  of  silver,  which  remains  in  the  bath, 
and  is  precipitated  to  the  bottom  in  dark,  brownish-black  flakes, 
whilst  the  permanganate  itself  is  converted  into  peroxide  of  man- 
ganese. As  soon  as  the  solution  is  perfectly  clear  most  of  the  or- 
ganic matter  will  be  filtered  out.  Thus  the  permanganate  precipi- 
tates most  of  the  organic  matter  without  the  least  injury  to  the  bath." 

Kaolin. 

This  is  often  used  for  clearing  up  the  printing-bath.  A  little  of 
this  powder  is  placed  in  the  bottle  containing  the  discolored  bath, 
and  the  solution  thoroughly  stirred  with  a  glass  rod,  and  then  al- 
lowed to  settle  for  the  space  of  a  few  minutes.  Filter  the  decanted 
solution  through  cotton,  and  at  night  pour  the  bath  again  into  the 
bottle  containing  the  kaolin.  Thus  the  same  kaolin  can  be  used  for 
a  great  number  of  times. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Bridge,  in  The  Year-Book  for  1873,  recommends  for 


24  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

those  printers  who  use  the  kaolin  a  simple  apparatus  described  as 
follows : 

4  i  Take  a  large  wide-mouthed  bottle  (depending  upon  the  quantity 
of  solution  you  have  in  use),  fit  a  cork  to  it,  and  bore  three  holes  in 
it,  one  large  enough  to  admit  the  point  of  a  funnel,  going  well 
through  the  other  side,  and  the  other  two  large  enough  for  a  piece 
of  ordinary  glass  tube.  Bend  a  piece  of  tube  in  the  form  of  a  siphon, 
let  one  end  reach  to  within  about  an  inch  of  the  bottom  of  the  bottle, 
and  let  the  other  end  be  a  few  inches  longer  ;  break  it  off  below  the 
turn  in  the  longest  side,  and  join  it  together  again  by  means  of  a 
piece  of  india-rubber  tubing  about  two  inches  long ;  put  another 
piece  of  glass  tube  (slightly  bent  for  convenience  sake)  just  through 
the  cork,  and  the  thing  is  made.  Put  some  kaolin  in  the  bottle,  and 
after  using  the  solution  return  it  to  the  bottle  through  the  funnel 
over  night,  and  shake  it ;  it  will  be  quite  clear  by  the  morning. 
When  again  required  for  use  you  have  only  to  cover  the  top  of  the 
funnel,  put  the  long  end  of  the  siphon  in  the  dish,  blow  gently  down 
the  short  tube,  and  the  siphon  immediately  commences  to  act,  and 
eon±inue6  to  do  so  while  there  is  any  solution  to  supply  it ;  and,  if 
care  is  taken  to  stop  it  before  the  top  of  the  solution  reaches  the 
level  of  the  siphon-tube  (which  may  be  done  at  any  time  by  press- 
ing the  piece  of  india-rubber  tube),  no  scum  will  ever  get  into  the 
dish." 

Grum  Camphor  Solution. 

"When  the  bath  is  very  much  discolored  this  rectifier  is  most  gen- 
erally used.  It  is  made  as  follow* : 

Gum  Camphor, .    1  ounce. 

Alcohol,  95  per  cent., 6  ounces. 

Add  about  four  drachms  of  this  solution  to  the  discolored  bath, 
and  shake  welL  Probably  the  frothiness  which  is  at  first  formed 
will  disappear,  and  then  it  will  be  necessary  to  add  another  equal 
quantity,  if  not  more ;  shake  well,  and  then  allow  the  bottle  to  stand 
for  a  few  minutes  without  being  shaken .  Filter  the  solution  through 
paper,  and  the  albumen,  which  united  with  the  camphor,  will  be 
left  in  the  filter,  and  the  bath  will  be  very  clear, 

Boiling  down  tlw  Soluii&n. 

About  once  a  month  or  so  the  printing-bath  should  be  boiled  down 
about  two-thirds.  It  is  first  made  very  alkaline  with  aqua  ammo- 
nia, and  is  then  placed  in  an  evaporating-dish  over  a  small  gas  stove, 
and  a  small  jet  of  gas  turned  on.  "When  it  has  boiled  down  two- 
thirds  turn  off  the  gas,  and  permit  the  solution  to  cool  gradually, 
leaving  the  dish  on  the  stove  in  the  meantime. 


THE  POSITIVE  BATH  FOR  ALBUMEN  PAPER. 


25 


FIG. 4. 


When  cool,  filter  through  paper,  and  test  the  strength  of  the  silver 
by  means  of  Pile's  test-tube  and  solution.  Add  water  to  reduce 
the  bath  to  that  strength  which  is  best  for  the  paper,  negatives,  &c. 
Then  add  the  other  nitrates  (or  whatever  other  chemicals  that  might 
have  been  used  in  the  making  of  the  bath  in  the  first  place)  to  the 
bath,  see  to  the  alkalinity,  filter,  and  the  bath  will  be  ready  for  use. 

Fusing  the  Bath. 

FIG.  4.  Place  the  bath  in  a  suitable  size  evaporating-dish,  and 
boil  down  to  dryness  at  a  gentle  heat.  Scrape  the  silver  which  has 
adhered  to  the  sides  of  the  dish  down  to 
the  bottom,  and  stir  the  solution  with  a 
glass  rod  until  all  the  bubbling  has  ceased. 
Now  turn  off  the  gas  jet,  and  stir  the  mass 
constantly  with  a  glass  rod  until  it  has 
cooled,  and  then  the  mass  will  be  broken 
up,  which  is  a  more  desirable  state  to  have 
it  in.  In  an  hour  or  so  after  you  have  left 
off  stirring  it,  you  can  dilute  the  strength 
of  the  fused  mass  by  the  addition  of  pure 
water. 

Reduce  to  the  proper  strength  for  the 

printing-bath,  and  then  filter  the  solution.  The  organic  matter  will 
be  left  in  the  filter.  Now  make  up  your  bath  as  has  before  been  ad- 
vised, and  then  it  is  ready  for  use. 

Sunning  the  Bath. 

The  bath  is  made  alkaline  and  placed  out  in  the  sunlight,  for  the 
purpose  of  throwing  down  the  organic  matter  in  it. 

The  bath  is  very  much  improved  by  sunning,  and  it  should  always 
be  placed  out  in  the  light  when  not  in  use. 

To  prevent  evaporation,  keep  the  bottle  tightly  closed. 

Filtering  the  Bath. 

This  can  be  done  either  by  means  of  common  filtering-paper  or 
through  cotton. 

Good  filtering-paper  can  be  obtained  from  almost  any  stockdealer, 
of  various  sizes,  all  prepared  for  immediate  use.  Sometimes  the  fil- 
tering-paper is  rendered  useless  on  account  of  there  being  traces  of 
hyposulphite  of  soda  in  it,  but  this  is  very  seldom  the  case.  If  you 
have  a  filtering-paper  of  which  you  are  suspicious,  you  can  test  it 
by  the  following  simple  method  : 

Take  a  sheet  of  the  suspected  lot  of  paper,  and  place  it  in  a  small 
and  perfectly  clean  evaporating-dish,  in  which  there  has  been  placed 

3 


26 


THE    PRACTICAL    PRINTER. 


a  small  quantity  of  warm  distilled  water,  say  five  ounces.  Cover 
the  dish  over  with  a  glass,  and  let  the  paper  soak  for  a  few  hours, 
and  then  boil  the  water,  still  with  the  paper  in  it,  for  the  space  of 
half  an  hour. 

Take  a  clean  test-tube,  and  squeeze  about  an  ounce  of  the  water 
from  the  wet  paper  into  it.  This  should  be  done  with  perfectly 
dean  hands. 

]S"ow  dissolve  about  five  grains  of  permanganate  of  potash  in 
about  an  ounce  of  distilled  water,  and  then  add  ten  grains  of  bicar- 
bonate of  soda  to  it. 

When  this  solution  is  thoroughly  dissolved  and  mixed,  then  let 
fall  about  three  drops  of  it  into  the  test-tube  containing  the  water 
squeezed  from  the  filtering-paper. 

If  there  is  a  trace  of  the  hyposulphite  in  the  water,  the  liquid  in 
the  test-tube  will  turn  a  more  or  less  greenish  tint,  according  to  the 
quantity  of  the  soda  there  may  be  in  the  solution.  Look  sharp. 

If  there  be  no  hyposulphite  there,  the  rich  color  of  the  test  solu- 
tion will  not  be  lost,  although  its  deepness  may  be  weakened.  When 
the  latter  is  the  case,  the  filtering-paper  does  not  have  anything  in 
its  composition  that  will  be  at  all  injurious  to  the  bath  when  filtered 
through  it. 

When  preparing  to  filter  your  bath  solution  through  paper,  the 
paper  should  be  folded  in  six  or  eight  places,  so  as  to  permit  the  air 
from  the  bottle  to  escape  between  the  folds  of  the 
paper,  and  thus  allowing  the  solution  to  filter 
quicker.  In  folding,  be  careful  that  you  do  not 
break  the  centre  of  the  sheet  of  filtering-paper,  at 
which  the  folds  meet 

The  paper  should  be  placed  in  the  funnel,  and 
when  the  solution  is  poured  into  it  to  be  filtered, 
it  should  be  poured  at  the  side  of  it,  slowly  at  first, 
so  that  the  weight  of  the  solution  will  not  be  likely 
to  break  the  filter. 

FIG.  5.  When  it  is  desired  to  filter  the  bath 
through  cotton,  the  cotton  should  be  wet  thor- 
oughly with  good  common  alcohol,  and  thrown 
into  the  funnel. 

jSTow  pour  the  solution  in,  and  filter  the  bath. 
If  it  filters  too  quickly,  L  e.,  imperfectly,  then  press 
the  cotton  down  further  in  the  neck  of  the  funnel ;  if  too  slowly, 
then  place  the  glass  rod  in  the  centre  of  the  filter,  turn  it  round 
once  or  twice,  so  as  to  catch  hold  of  the  cotton,  and  then  pull  it  up 
very  slightly. 


FIG.  5. 


SILVERING   THE   ALBUMEN   PAPER.  27 

CHAPTER   II. 
SILVERING  THE  ALBUMEN  PAPER. 

UNLESS  photography  is  practiced  on  a  very  small  scale,  the  paper 
had  better  be  floated  in  whole  sheets,  and  not  cut  up,  as  is  some- 
times done,  into  half  and  quarter  sheets. 

For  the  purpose  of  silvering  or  floating  the  paper,  a  porcelain  dish 
should  be  obtained  and  thoroughly  cleaned  before  use,  and  when  the 
printing  solution  is  properly  filtered,  it  should  be  poured  into  it. 

Bubbles  forming  on  the  surface  of  the  solution,  after  it  is  poured 
into  the  dish,  should  be  skimmed  oft'— if  they  do  not  break  of  their 
own  accord — before  the  albumen  paper  is  placed  on  the  bath.  If 
the  bubbles  do  not  break  of  their  own  accord,  pour  about  an  ounce 
of  95  per  cent,  alcohol  into  the  solution,  and  stir  well  with  a  glass 
rod ;  or  always  keep  a  lump  of  camphor  in  the  bottle,  into  which 
the  solution  is  poured  after  use. 

Considerable  mechanical  skill  is  required  in  silvering  the  paper 
properly.  By  proper  treatment  of  the  paper  whilst  silvering,  many  of 
the  photographic  printer's  troubles  are,  in  a  great  measure,  lessened. 

Many  photographic  printers,  in  placing  the  sheet  of  paper  on  the 
bath,  take  hold  of  two  corners  diagonally,  and  place  the  centre  of  the 
sheet  on  the  bath  first,  and  then  in  turn  the  two  sides.  In  this  way 
there  will  be  a  row  of  bubbles  (minute  in  size)  at  that  place  where 
the  paper  first  touches  the  bath,  and  which  will  take  all  the  spare 
breath  of  the  printer  to  break  by  blowing,  and  ichile  this  blowing  is 
being  done,  the  paper  will  be  silvering  unevenly. 

Lay  the  dish  on  a  bench  in  a  room  darkened  with  dark  yellow 
curtains  (see  page  13),  and  have  the  length  of  the  dish  run  from 
your  right  to  your  left  hand,  as  you  stand  facing  it. 

In  preparing  to  lay  the  sheet  on  the  bath,  first  turn  up  the  four 
corners  of  the  sheet  of  paper  to  be  sensitized  at  about  one-eighth  of 
an  inch  from  the  edge,  so  that  you  can  readily  lift  it  from  the  bath 
without  having  your  fingers  come  in  contact  with  the  solution. 

I  also,  especially  when  the  paper  is  dry,  gently  draw  my  thumb- 
nail along  the  sides  of  the  back  of  the  paper,  at  about  one-quarter 
of  an  inch  from  the  edge,  being  careful  in  doing  so  not  to  crack  or 
break  the  albumen.  This  is  done  so  that  the  sides  of  the  paper  will 
curve  evenly  in  the  silvering,  and  there  will  not  be  any  sharp  angles 
to  it,  causing  it  to  sink  below  the  surface,  and  the  solution  to  flow 
upon  the  back  of  the  sheet,  thus  spoiling  the  paper. 

Remark. — The  sheet  of  albumen  paper,  as  it  lies  before  you  in 


28  THE    PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

the  drawer,  is  supposed  to  be  back  up,  and  consequently  albumen 
side  down. 

Take  up  the  upper  right-hand  corner  of  the  sheet  (the  length  of  it 
should  run  from  your  right  to  your  left  hand)  with  the  right  hand, 
and  the  lower  left-hand  corner  with  your  left  hand,  and  let  the  sheet 
assume  a  curved  position,  the  right  hand  being  highest.  Lay  the 
lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  sheet  (which  you  have  hold  of  with  the 

thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left 
hand)  on  the  upper  part  of  the  dish 
(see  Fig.  6),  midway  between  the 
right  and  left-hand  corners,  keep- 
ing hold  of  the  turned-up  corner 
while  it  is  there,  for  the  purpose  of 
guiding  the  corner  to  its  proper 
place  in  the  dish. 

As  you  hold  the  sheet  at  present, 
the  upper  right-hand  corner  is  up 
in  the  air,  being  held  there  with  the 
right  hand. 

Now  draw  the  corner  that  is  on  the  solution  gently  towards  the 
lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  dish,  and  at  the  same  time  slowly 
lower  the  paper  on  the  bath  with  the  right  hand,  so  that  by  the 
time  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  paper  reaches  its  proper  place, 
the  whole  of  the  sheet  will  be  lying  in  the  solution. 

The  drawing  of  the  paper  towards  you  drives  the  bubbles  that 
may  be  on  the  bath  before  the  sheet,  so  that  when  the  sheet  is  all 
on  the  bath,  the  bubbles,  if  there  are  any,  will  be  along  the  edges  of 
and  beyond  the  paper.  A  slight  tap  on  the  back  of  the  paper  may 
be  necessary,  but  that  is  all. 

While  drawing  the  corner  towards  you,  and  lowering  the  others, 
be  careful  that  you  do  not  dip  the  edges  of  the  sides  of  the  paper 
below  the  surface  of  the  solution. 

If  there  should  be  a  few  drops  of  the  solution  on  the  back  of  the 
sheet  while  on  the  bath,  they  should  immediately  be  blotted  off  to 
dryness  with  white  blotting-paper. 

Frequently  when  the  sheet  is  first  placed  on  the  bath,  especially 
during  the  cold  weather,  the  edges  of  the  paper  will  curl  over,  This 
is  a  frequent  occurrence  at  all  times  of  the  year,  where  the  albumen 
paper  has  been  for  a  long  time  albumenized.  Breathing  gently  (not 
blowing]  will  immediately  flatten  it.  The  principal  reason  why  this 
occurs  is  because  the  paper  is  too  dry,  as  the  moist  air  of  the  breath 
plainly  proves,  and  hence  a  remedy  shows  itself :  keep  the  paper  in 
a  very  moist  place  for  a  day  before  sensitizing  it. 
After  the  paper  has  been  silvered  long  enough,  it  is  then  to  be 

"  •  :  . 


SILVERING   THE   ALBUMEN    PAPER. 


29 


raised  from  the  bath.  Take  hold  of  the  lower  ?e/£-hand  corner  with 
the  left  hand,  and  slowly  raise  the  paper  until  the  upper  Ze/Miand 
corner  can  be  caught  hold  of  and  held  with  the  right  hand.  Keep 
slowly  raising  the  sheet  until  all  the  corners  are  off,  and  then  let  the 
few  drops  drain  off  that  corner  which  was  placed  on  the  bath  last. 

Hang  the  paper  in  a  dark  closet  to  dry,  having  that  corner  the 
lowest  from  which  the  solution  was  drained  off  into  the  bath.  Use 
a  spring  nipper  to  suspend  the  paper  by  while  drying,  or  hang  it  on 
poles,  the  sheets  being  placed  diagonally,  albumen  side  up,  the  pole 
running  from  corner  to  corner  under  the  middle  of  the  sheet.  This 
last  method  prevents  the  solution  from  draining  to  one  end  of  the 
sheet,  as  it  will  do  when  hung  at  full  length,  unless  the  surplus  be 
removed  by  one  of  the  methods  hereafter  described.  An.  even  coat 
of  the  solution  is  thus  given  to  the  paper,  so  that  all  parts  of  it 
will  print  alike.  The  bath  should  be  stirred  every  time  a  sheet  of  paper 
has  been  removed  from  it. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  draw  the  sheet  of  paper,  upon  removing 
it  from  the  bath,  across  a  glass  rod  (Fig.  7),  or  if  the  edge  of  the  dish 

FIG.  7. 


is  even,  then  over  that,  so  as  to  leave  the  superfluous  solution  in  the 
bath.  I  am  very  much  in  favor  of  using  blotting-paper  for  the  pur- 
pose of  blotting  the  .paper  as  it  leaves  the  bath  (Fig.  8),  and  then 
give  the  final  drying  to  the  paper  by  artificial  heat. 

After  the  bath  has  been 
standing  for  some  time 
without  being  in  use, 
there  will  be  a  reddish 
scum  on  the  surface  of  it, 
which  should  be  removed 
with  strips  of  white  bibu- 
lous paper  before  another 
sheet  is  floated. 

The  time   for   floating 


30  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

the  paper  depends  upon  the  strength  of  the  bath,  the  temperature 
of  both  the  bath  and  weather,  the  brand  of  paper  used,  and  the  class 
of  negatives  that  are  to  be  printed. 

As  a  general  thing,  the  paper  is  floated  from  twenty  to  sixty  sec- 
onds in  the  summer,  while  in  the  winter  it  is  floated  from  forty- 
five  seconds  to  one  minute  and  three-quarters. 

There  are  so  many  local  things  to  be  taken  into  consideration, 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  state  exactly  as  to  how  long  the 
paper  will  have  to  be  floated,  and  the  beginner  will  have  to  make 
this  his  constant  study,  to  learn  the  exact  number  of  seconds  nec- 
essary. 

The  double  albumenized  paper  should  be  silvered  a  much  longer 
time  than  the  single,  and  to  prevent  cracking  of  the  film,  the  paper 
should  be  damp  before  handling  it  for  floating,  and  the  finished 
prints,  after  washiug,  should  be  kept  wet  until  mounted, 

When  the  bath  is  not  in  use,  and  is  in  the  silvering  dish,  it  should 
always  be  covered  up. 

Pour  the  bath  back  into  the  bottle  every  night,  wash  the  dish  out 
thoroughly,  saving  the  first  two  washings,  and  until  again  wanted, 
set  it  away,  bottom  upwards,  on  a  shelf  covered  with  clean  paper. 


CHAPTEK  III. 
DRYING    THE  PAPER. 

[See  Drying-room,  Fig.  3.] 

THE  sheets  of  paper,  while  drying,  should  be  placed  about  six  or 
eight  inches  apart,  so  that  they  may  not  come  in  contact  with  each 
other,  while  damp,  by  means  of  slight  draughts  of  air,  thus  spoiling 
the  sheets  of  freshly  sensitized  paper,  at  least  those  parts  of  the 
sheets  where  they  meet. 

A  gas  stove  is  generally  used  for  heating  the  drying-room,  partly 
on  account  of  the  little  difficulty  necessary  to  prepare  it  for  heating, 
and  then  again  on  account  of  its  small  size.  It  does  not  occupy 
much  room.  An  excellent  one  for  the  purpose  can  be  obtained  at  a 
small  expense. 

A  soapstone,  about  6x8  inches  in  size,  should  be  placed  over  the 
stove,  and  the  gas  turned  on  full  head  for  a  few  minutes,  until  the 
stone  has  become  very  hot,  then  it  may  be  turned  down  to  a  small 
jet.  The  reason  why  this  stone  is  generally  used  is  because  it  gives 


\ 

DRYING   THE   PAPER.  31 

a  diffused  heat,  and  the  sheets  of  paper  may  be  placed  quite  near  the 
stove  and  also  near  each  other  without  waving  enough  to  make  them 
come  in  contact.  The  paper  in  this  way  is  very  quickly  dried. 

During  the  summer  it  is  not  necessary  to  light  the  stove  until  all 
of  the  paper  is  silvered,  and  only  then  to  dispel  the  slight  moisture 
that  may  be  on  the  surface. 

Usually  during  the  summer  season,  while  you  are  silvering  the 
sixth  or  seventh  sheet  of  paper,  the  first  one  or  two  will  be  dry 
enough  to  fume,  so  that  an  assistant  can  go  right  to  work  at  print- 
ing in  about  half  an  hour  after  you  have  entered  the  printing-room 
in  the  morning. 

On  damp  days,  it  will  perhaps  be  necessary  to  keep  the  drying- 
room  quite  warm  for  an  hour  or  so  in  the  morning,  until  you  have 
silvered  all  of  the  paper  necessary  for  the  day's  work. 

In  the  winter  a  stove  is  required  a  longer  time  than  in  summer, 
but  there  is  no  necessity  for  having  the  gas  burning  more  than  an 
hour  or  so  during  any  day  for  the  whole  year  round. 

It  is  on  account  of  "  that  terrible  gas-bill "  which  is  always  coming 
around  every  month,  that  many  photographers  allow  their  paper  to 
dry  up  spontaneously,  and  thus  waste  considerable  time,  when  if  a 
little  attention  was  given  to  the  time  the  gas  should  burn,  the  ex- 
pense would  be  comparatively  trifling.  When  the  paper  dries  spon- 
taneously, the  surface  of  it  dries  dead. 

The  paper  should  be  dried  quite  quickly  and  thoroughly,  for  then 
the  surface  of  it  will  be  very  brilliant  and  glossy,  and  the  resulting 
prints  will  be  much  finer. 

Clean  pieces  of  tissue-  or  blotting-paper  should  be  placed  on  the 
lower  corner  of  the  sheet,  for  the  purpose  of  absorbing  the  silver  so- 
lution which  collects  at  that  particular  place,  so  that  if  the  paper 
should  happen  to  curl  over,  the  corner  would  not  come  in  contact 
with  the  rest  of  the  paper  in  a  wet  state.  To  prevent  the  paper 
from  curling  up  while  drying,  a  stick  having  a  spring  nipper  at- 
tached to  each  end  of  it  is  fastened  to  the  lower  part  of  the  sheet. 


t 

CHAPTER  IV. 
FUMING    THE  PAPEE. 

THE  paper,  when  thoroughly  dry,  is  to  be  fumed.     The  advan- 
tages of  fuming  the  sensitive  paper  are  these  : 

1st.  The  paper  prints  richer,  quicker,  and  more  brilliantly. 


32 


THE    PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


2d.  The  prints  tone  easier,  and  in  the  finished  pictures  are  much 
more  pleasing  and  satisfactory. 

The  printed  fumed  paper  (when  the  nitrate  bath  is  in  good  order, 
and  worked  properly)  will  print  a  very  rich  purple  tone,  tending 
slightly  to  blue  in  the  hair,  background,  and  light  shadows,  while 
in  the  deepest  shades  the  color  will  be  very  brilliant  and  beautiful. 
It  is  well  known  by  experienced  printers  that  the  better  the  paper 
prints,  the  better  will  be  the  finished  pictures,  and  since  fuming  un- 
doubtedly improves  the  printing-paper,  it  has  come  to  be  a  very 
necessary  part  of  the  printing  process. 

FIG.  9.  The  construction  of  the  fuming-box  is  very  simple.  Take 
any  common  wooden  box  large  enough  for  the  purpose,  and  make  a 
door  of  suitable  size  for  it,  which,  when  shut,  will  totally  exclude 
all  light.  Make  a  false  bottom  in  this  about  six  inches  or  so  from 


the  real  one,  and  perforate  it  with  holes  of  about  the  size  a  large 
gimlet  would  make.  These  holes  should  be  very  numerous,  and  at 
the  centre  of  the  board  there  should  be,  if  anything,  a  smaller  num- 
ber of  them,  because  the  saucer  containing  the  liquor  ammonia  is 
generally  placed  at  the  centre  of  the  real  bottom  of  the  box. 

Mr.  W.  L.  Shoemaker's  box  may  suit  many  better.     He  says  of  it 
in  the  Philadelphia  Photographer : 


FUMING   THE   PAPER. 


33 


"  The  cut  below  represents  a  box  which  I  offer  to  the  fraternity. 
As  I  do  not  intend  to  patent  it,  I  will  feel  sufficiently  repaid  if  I 
hear  of  any  adopting  it  in  their  establishments. 

' 1 1  claim  as  an  improvement  an  entirely  novel  method  of  causing 


FIG. 


a  perfect  and  even  distribution  of  the  ammonia  fumes  upon  all  parts 
of  a  sheet ;  so  that,  if  properly  silvered,  the  sheet  will  give  a  perfect 
and  even  print 

"We  have,  in  Mr.  Moore's  establishment,  used  for  nine  years  a 
box  which  conveyed  the  fumes  from  the  space  in  the  bottom  through 
holes  into  the  fuming-chamber,  the  sheets  standing  upright.  But 
the  objection  is,  that  part  of  the  sheet  nearest  the  bottom  is  stronger 
than  top  or  centre,  which,  when  printing  as  we  do,  in  whole  sheets, 
invariably  show  a  decided  difference  in  the  two  ends. 

"To  avoid  this,  and  cause  a  perfect  distribution  of  the  fumes,  1 
have  constructed  the  above  box.  We  have  used  this  box  constantly 
for  nearly  three  months,  and  fumed  hundreds  of  sheets  in  it,  and 
can  with  confidence  offer  it  as  doing  everything  I  claim. 

"  The  amount  of  ammonia  is  no  greater  than  formerly  used ;  the 
time  of  fuming  is  increased  two  to  three  minutes.  In  all  the  old 
boxes  in  which  no  draft  is  used,  the  paper  becomes  damp  or  limpid 
and  quite  decomposed  on  a  warm,  sultry  day.  In  this  box  the  paper 
remains  perfectly  dry,  no  matter  how  long  fumed. 

"There  is  another  advantage:  when  the  box  is  opened,  after 
fuming,  it  does  not  leave  fumes  into  the  room . 

"A  sheet  of  paper  is  tacked,  or  fastened  by  the  American  clothes- 
clips,  to  the  bottom  of  each  slide  ;  another  is  laid  on  the  top.  When 
all  are  filled,  pour  ammonia  into  the  dish  below,  close  the  door,  open 


34  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

the  draft-slide,  and  the  fuming  goes  on.  The  box  we  are  using,  and 
from  which  the  ahove  was  copied,  is  intended  for  full  sheets,  18  x  22. 

"  The  dimensions  of  the  inside  (fuming-chamber)  are  as  follows  : 
26  inches  deep,  19  inches  wide,  and  17^  inches  high.  The  slides  are 
19^  inches  wide,  24£  inches  long.  The  space  below,  for  fumes,  is  2£ 
inches  high.  The  fumes  are  carried  to  the  back  end  of  the  floor  of 
the  fuming-chamber,  which  has  an  opening  1£  inches  across  its 
whole  width ,  which  allows  the  fumes  to  ascend  into  the  first  slide 
space.  The  first  slide  fits  flush  against  the  back  of  the  box,  and  has 
a  space  of  1£  inches  across  its  front  end,  which  allows  the  fumes  to 
ascend  to  the  second  slide  space.  The  second  slide  has  its  opening 
at  the  back  end,  and  allows  the  fumes  to  come  into  the  third  slide 
space,  and  so  on,  until  we  reach  the  top  of  the  box.  The  chamber 
for  carrying  off  the  fumes  has  its  opening  at  the  front  end  of  the 
box.  The  pipe  for  conveying  oft'  the  fumes  is  placed  at  the  back 
end  of  this  chamber,  on  the  top  of  the  box.  We  use  a  2-inch  tin 
pipe. 

"It  is  necessary  that  the  pipe  should  be  attached  to  a  chimney- 
flue,  or  attached,  as  we  have  it,  by  what  iron-workers  call  a  'jacket,' 
on  the  stove-pipe.  This  is  the  best  way,  as  you  are  always  certain 
to  have  a  good  draft,  which  can  be  regulated  at  the  sliding  front  of 
the  door  of  the  fuming-space," 

It  may  perhaps  be  better,  since  it  does  not  retard  the  time  of  fum- 
ing so  much,  to  have  a  fine  wire  gauze  placed  about  the  same  num- 
ber of  inches  from  the  bottom  of  the  box  as  was  recommended  above 
for  the  false  bottom,  and  then  the  fumes  of  the  ammonia  will  ascend 
more  rapidly ;  and  to  prevent  the  ascension  of  it  so  very  rapidly  at 
the  centre,  and  thus  cause  uneven  fuming — especially  at  the  lower 
part  of  the  sheet — a  piece  of  pasteboard  can  be  placed  on  the  gauze 
directly  over  and  covering  the  greater  part  of  the  dish. 

This  box  should  be  made  large  enough  for  fuming  three  or  four 
sheets  of  paper  at  a  time,  which  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  fume  at 
one  time  in  most  galleries,  especially  during  the  summer,  when  the 
paper  discolors  so  quickly  after  it  is  sensitized. 

The  sheets  should  be  suspended  in  the  air  by  means  of  a  spring 
clip.  Four  laths,  about  three  inches  apart,  and  running  parallel  to 
each  other,  should  be  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  box,  and  a  slip  fast- 
ened to  each  end. 

By  placing  two  sheets  back  to  back,  you  can  fume  eight  sheets  of 
paper  at  a  time  should  you  wish.  Place  about  half  an  ounce  of 
aqua  ammonia  in  the  saucer  on  the  bottom  of  the  box,  shut  the  door, 
and  then  time  the  paper. 

Some  persons  use  carbonate  of  ammonia  for  fuming  on  account  of 


FUMING   THE   PAPER.  35 

its  cheapness,  but  I  do  not  see  any  gain  in  it,  for  what  is  gained  by 
its  cheapness  is  more  than  lost  by  its  very  insufficient  fuming. 

Carbonate  of  ammonia  is  very  often  used  together  with  the  aqua 
by  pouring  a  few  drops  of  the  liquid  on  the  lump  of  carbonate. 
This  is  said  to  be  an  economical  way  of  fuming  the  paper,  for  with 
the  use  of  the  carbonate  it  is  only  necessary  for  a  few  drops  of  the 
stronger  ammonia  to  be  used,  for  there  will  then  enough  vapor  arise 
to  accomplish  our  object  eifectually. 

Fuming  with  ammonia  imparts  a  slight  dampness  to  the  paper, 
which  during  the  hot  months  of  summer  may  be  considered  an  ad- 
vantage ;  but  during  the  damp  days,  when  the  paper  is  always 
damp,  it  is  otherwise,  and  consequently  the  use  of  some  substance  in 
the  fuming-box  is  required,  which  will  take  to  itself  the  moisture, 
and  leave  the  fumes  of  the  ammonia  alone  to  act  upon  the  paper. 

Chloride  of  lime  is  a  good  thing,  and  answers  admirably.  This 
is  a  moist,  grayish-white  substance,  having,  in  a  slight  degree,  the 
odor  of  chlorine. 

It  has  powerful  bleaching  properties,  and  prevents  the  paper  from 
turning  yellow  while  fuming,  a  very  common  occurrence  during  the 
hot  months  with  some  brands  of  papers.  It  also  improves  the  print- 
ing qualities  of  the  paper,  gives  a  virgin  whiteness  to  the  vignettes, 
and  prevents  the  discoloration  of  them  after  printing,  when  the  dis- 
coloring occurs  only  from  the  heat  of  the  printing-room.  It  is  best, 
when  you  wish  to  use  this  lime  in  connection  with  aqua  ammonia, 
to  pour  a  few  drops  of  the  liquid  in  the  saucer,  and  uncorking  the 
bottle  of  the  chloride  of  lime  to  sprinkle  a  little  of  it  on  the  ammo- 
nia, and  immediately  close  the  door.  A  dry  white  vapor  of  the  lime 
and  ammonia  will  ascend,  which  will  give  to  the  paper  the  proper- 
ties named  above. 

The  paper  while  drying  will  curl  up,  thus  causing  it  to  fume  un- 
evenly. To  prevent  this  the  lower  part  of  the  paper  should  be  held 
by  a  lath  which  has  a  spring  clip  nailed  at  each  end  of  it. 

The  time  of  fuming  the  paper  depends  upon  the  state  of  the  ni- 
trate bath,  the  quality  of  the  negatives,  the  temperature  of  the 
weather,  and  the  brightness  of  the  light. 

Paper  silvered  on  an  acid  bath  needs  much  longer  fuming  than 
when  silvered  on  an  alkaline  or  a  neutral  one ;  paper  for  intense 
negatives  less  fuming  than  weak  ones  ;  during  the  summer  less  fum- 
ing than  during  the  winter ;  and  on  a  dark  day  less  fuming  is  re- 
quired than  on  a  bright  day.  All  these  things  are  to  be  taken  into 
account,  and  the  beginner  will  do  well  to  note  them  carefully. 

As  to  the  first  of  these,  the  printing-bath,  if  the  bath  is  acid 
the  time  of  fuming  should  vary  with  the  amount  of  acidity,  and 


36  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

that  time  can  be  ascertained  by  fuming  until  it  prints  a  rich  color 
without  showing  any  signs  of  weakness.  .If  the  bath  is  alkaline  or 
neutral  less  fuming  is  required  than  if  the  bath  is  acid. 

As  to  the  second  of  these,  the  quality  of  the  negatives,  a  hard, 
intense  negative  should  be  printed  upon  paper  fumed  a  very  little, 
as  too  much  fuming  increases  the  sensitiveness  of  the  paper,  and 
makes  the  negatives  yield  harsher  prints  than  what  would  be  the 
result  if  the  paper  were  fumed  a  less  time.  A  thin  or  weak  nega- 
tive yields  the  best  prints  upon  paper  that  has  been  fumed  a  long 
time,  as  it  increases  the  sensitiveness  of  it,  and  makes  greater  con- 
trasts, which  is  just  what  we  wish.  As  for  the  medium  negatives, 
fume  a  medium  length  of  time. 

The  temperature  of  the  weather  is  also  a  very  important  item  in 
considering  the  fuming  of  the  paper.  .  During  the  hot  months  of 
summer  the  paper  can  bear  less  fuming  than  during  the  winter 
months,  when  the  strength  of  the  bath  and  also  the  time  of  the 
fuming  must  be  increased. 

The  brightness  of  the  sunlight  must  also  be  thought  of,  for  when 
the  light  is  bright  and  the  weather  good  more  fuming  is  required 
(so  as  to  prevent  mealiness)  than  would  be  necessary  if  the  opposite 
were  the  case. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRESERVATION  OF  SENSITIVE  ALBUMENIZED 
PAPER;   WASHED  SENSITIVE  PAPER. 

THE  preservation  of  the  sensitive  paper  has  attracted  considerable 
attention  among  photographers  generally,  on  account  of  the  many 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  being  able  to  preserve  paper  in  good 
working  condition  for  a  certain  length  of  time  after  it  has  been  pre- 
pared. 

For  amateurs,  and  for  those  professional  photographers  who  only 
have  occasion  to  print  now  and  then,  often  not  more  than  half  a 
dozen  times  a  month,  a  durable  sensitive  albumen  paper  would  be 
an  excellent  thing,  and  for  that  reason  the  subject  is  worthy  of  the 
strictest  attention. 

Amateurs  have  been  the  most  successful  in  experimenting  in  this 
direction,  owing,  most  probably,  to  their  greater  interest  in  securing 
the  desired  result,  besides  their  having  much  more  time  to  do  so 


PRESERVATION   OF   SENSITIVE   PAPER.  37 

•  than  the  photographer  with  a  good  business  would  have.  I  will 
give  some  of  the  formulae  used,  and  make  some  suggestions  that 
may  help  those  who  wish  to  prepare  paper  in  this  way. 

For  the  purpose  of  preparing  the  bath  so  that  it  will  keep  the 
paper  when  floated  upon  it  in  good  condition,  such  acids  as  oxalic, 
citric,  and  tartaric  are  added  in  various  proportions  to  a  plain  sil- 
ver bath,  ranging  from  25  to  45  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  the 
ounce  of  solution. 

The  paper  is  then  dried,  and  kept  between  large  white  sheets  of 
blotting-paper,  or  in  dark  drawers  in  which  there  is  a  box  placed 
containing  chloride  of  calcium,  which  is  there  for  the  purpose  of  ab- 
sorbing the  moisture  from  the  air,  so  as  to  keep  the  paper  thoroughly 
free  from  it,  which  is  very  essential  if  the  photographer  desires  to 
keep  it  for  any  length  of  time. 

An  excellent  method,  and  which  is  used  very  successfully  in  Eng- 
land, is  to  make  up  a  bath  of  about  forty  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver 
to  the  ounce  of  solution,  neutralizing  it  with  sal  soda.  The  paper 
is  floated  from  45  to  75  seconds. 

Make  up  a  carbonate  of  soda  solution,  from  20  to  25  grains  of  the 
soda  to  the  ounce  of  pure  rain-water,  and  float  large  sheets  of  blot- 
ting-paper upon  it  until  they  have  become  thoroughly  saturated  with 
it,  and  then  remove  and  dry  them  thoroughly.  The  sensitive  albu- 
men paper,  when  it  is  about  three-quarters  dry  or  while  there  is  a 
moisture  to  the  surface,  is  placed  between  sheets  of  the  dry  carbon- 
ate of  soda  blotting-paper  and  evenly  pressed.  The  paper  is  then 
removed  to  fresh  blotting-papers,  until  the  moisture  has  all  been 
absorbed. 

The  paper  will  then  have  carbonate  of  silver  in  its-  composition:, 
which  renders  it  very  sensitive  to  the  light,  prints  finelyT  and  it  will 
tone  much  more  beautifully  on  account  of  its  alkalinity  than  an  acid 
paper  will.  The  paper  will  keep  in  good  condition  in  the  summer 
for  one  month,  if  it  is  kept  in  a  cool  and  totally  dark  place,  and  in 
the  winter  it  will  keep  two  or  three  times  as  long. 

A  process  which  is  very  highly  recommended  by  Mr.  J.  E.  John- 
son, in  a  recent  number  of  the  British  Journal  Almanac,  I  will  here 
give,  having  proved  its  value  by  a  trial  of  it  as  he  recommended, 
and  the  only  fault  I  found  with  it  wa&,  the  silver  being  too  weak  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  as  sensitive  a  paper  as  I  would  wish.  He 
recommends  a  bath  of  25  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of 
water,  but  I  have  found  a  bath  of  35  grains  strong  to  be  better. 
The  bath  as  changed  is  as  follows  : 

Nitrate  of  Silver, 35  grains. 

Citric  Acid,         .        .        .        ..•..'.»:.        .        .    25       " 
Water,  1  ownce- 


38  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

Make  up  a  bath  of  60  ounces  as  above.  The  writer  of  the  article- 
recommends  pouring  a  certain  quantity  of  solution  on  the  paper  and 
then  brushing  it  over  the  surface,  but  as  floating  is  probably  more 
convenient,  and  knowing  the  result  is  as  good,  I  should  recommend 
the  reader  to  float  the  paper  60  seconds  and  then  dry  thoroughly. 

Pack  away  without  fuming,  between  dry  sheets  of  blotting-paper, 
and  keep  in  a  dark  and  cool  place.  Before  printing,  the  paper  should 
be  fumed  with  strong  ammonia  full  twenty  minutes. 

Mr.  Johnson  says  that  the  paper  will  keep  well  from  eight  to  ten 
months.  I  have,  since  preparing  it,  kept  it  up  to  the  present  time, 
full  two  months,  in  excellent  condition,  and,  judging  from  the  prints 
I  have  made  on  it,  I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  keep  for  the 
full  time  he  says,  in  excellent  working  order. 

WASHED  SENSITIVE  PAPER. 

Paper  sensitized  in  the  usual  way  and  then  washed  acquires  keep- 
ing properties  similar  to  that  floated  on  a  bath  prepared  especially 
for  the  purpose.  The  paper  when  washed  should  never  be  soaked  in 
a  bath  of  water,  but  only  drawn  through  it  once,  and  should  not 
be  permitted  to  remain  in  it  more  than  one  second  longer  than  is 
really  necessary,  or  it  will  surely  make  flat  prints.  The  paper  is 
floated  upon  the  silver  bath  as  you  would  do  for  ordinary  sensitiz- 
ing, and  when  drained  sufficiently  it  is  drawn  through  a  lukewarm 
bath  of  pure  water,  permitted  to  drain  again,  and  then  hung  up 
to  dry. 

Long  sensitizing  on  a  strong  bath  is  necessary  for  the  success  of 
the  washed  paper,  and  the  water  should  be  fresh  every  time  you 
-wash  a  sheet  of  paper.  The  used  water  can  have  the  silver  in  it 
thrown  down  in  the  form  of  a  chloride  by  sprinkling  a  little  salt 
in  it. 

An  excellent  bath  for  the  paper  that  is  destined  to  be  washed  is 
made  as  follows : 

Nitrate  of  Silver, 60  grains. 

Nitrate  of  Ammonia, 30      " 

White  Sugar, 3      " 

Pure  Water, 1  ounce. 

Make  neutral  (i. «.,  -neither  acid  nor  alkaline)  with  bicarbonate 
of  soda :  float  two  minutes,  let  drain,  and  then  pass  the  paper 
quickly  through  a  citric  acid  bath  of  one  grain  of  the  acid  to  the 
ounce  of  pure  water.  Dry  thoroughly  and  pack  away  the  paper  in 
the  dark  without  fuming,  being  careful  not  to  expose  it  to  the  light. 

This  paper  will  keep  white  for  months  if  it  is  packed  between 


PRESERVATION   OF   SENSITIVE   PAPER.  39 

blotting-paper  in  a  box  which  is  made  air-tight.  To  preserve  the 
paper  for  a  long  time,  it  is  necessary— first,  to  prevent  white  light 
from  ever  striking  the  surface  until  it  is  to  be  printed ;  second,  to 
always  pack  the  paper  in  a  dark  room,  and  the  packing  should  be  so 
conducted  that  the  paper  in  the  boxes  should  be  perfectly  protected 
from  the  air ;  third,  the  packed  boxes  should  be  placed  in  a  cool  and 
dry  place,  and  not  in  a  place  where  the  atmosphere  is  apt  to  be 
changeable. 

The  paper  should  be  fumed  from  20  to  25  minutes,  when  about  to 
print  it,  and  chloride  of  lime  should  be  in  the  fuming-box  at  the 
time,  to  absorb  the  moisture  of  the  ammonia  and  to  keep  the  paper 
white,  for  preserved  sensitive  paper  turns  quite  yellow  while  being 
fumed. 

Paper  is  often,  instead  of  being  drawn  through  water,  floated 
upon  a  bath  containing  alum  in  the  proportion  of  four  or  five  grains 
of  alum  to  the  ounce  of  water,  or  on  a  bath  of  water  in  which  .there 
is  a  little  hydrochloric  acid.  There  is  some  fault  found  with-  the 
acid  on  account  of  its  being  too  insensitive.  Objection  is  also  raised 
to  the  simple  citric  acid,  but  in  the  latter  case,  instead  of  its  being 
too  insensitive,  it  is  the  reverse. 

In  the  case  of  the  citric  acid,  if  the  number  of  grains  of  the  acid 
to  the  ounce  of  water  i«  not  too  large,  it  will  work  well. 

Durable  sensitive  paper,  whether  washed  or  not,  should  always 
be  fumed  before  use. 

TONING. 

For  good  success  at  toning  the  citric  acid  (durable)  paper,  whether 
the  acid  is  in  the  composition  of  the  printing-bath,  or  whether  the 
paper  is  drawn  through  or  floated  upon  a  bath  of  diluted  citric  acid, 
the  washing  before  toning  should  be  comparatively  very  slight,  and 
although  the  paper  may  be  red,  you  should  soak  the  prints  in  a  very 
weak  bath  of  acetic  acid  and  water,  a  minim  of  the  acid  to  the  ounce 
of  water,  for  five  minutes,  and  then  rinse  well.  For  toning  .citric 
acid  paper,  have  the  bath  very  .alkaline,  and  if  the  prints  should  re- 
fuse to  tone  nicely  drop  in  about  six  to  eight  minims  of  a  plain  silver 
solution,  ten  grains  strong,  of  the  silver,  to  the  ounce  of  the  water. 
Stir  well,  and  let  stand  for  five  or  ten  minutes. 

Warm  the  toning  solution  quite  warm  and  then  allow  it  to  cool 
to  a  lukewarm  state  before  using.  The  ordinary  toning  bath  can 
be  used  very  successfully  in  toning  the  durable  paper  ;  indeed,  there 
is  no  necessity  for  any  other  bath  ;than  the  ones  which  will  be  given 
in  a  future  chapter. 

The  alum-bath  paper  will  tone  more  easily  than  the  citric  acid, 
and  in  toning  this  paper  the  toning  bath  need  not  be  so  alkaline. 


40  THE   PRACTICAL    PRINTER. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
CUTTING  THE  PAPEE. 

IN  cutting  up  the  paper  for  printing  due  regard  should  be  given 
to  the  materials  employed.  In  the  first  place,  the  fingers  should  be 
free  from  anything  that  will  stain  or  soil  the  paper,  and  they  should 
never  touch  the  silvered  side,  but  always  the  back. 

The  hands  should  be  perfectly  dry,  free  even  from  any  perspira- 
tion, for  if  this  is  not  strictly  regarded  in  the  handling  of  the  paper 
" finger  stains"  will  appear  on  those  parts  of  the  paper  with  which 
the  fingers  come  in  contact. 

To  guard  against  this,  a  rough  crash  towel  should  be  suspended 
in  a  convenient  place,  and  the  hands  wiped  upon  it  as  often  as  may 
be  found  necessary,  say  once  in  every  five  or  ten  minutes.  An  ivory 
newspaper  cutter,  about  eight  inches  long  and  an  inch  wide,  together 
with  a  suitable  sized  pair  of  shears,  will  be  all  of  the  instruments 
necessary. 

In  cutting  the  paper  for  very  large  prints,  such  as  13  x  16,  14  x  18, 
16  x  20,  &c.,  the  beginner  had  best  (to  obtain  the  right  size)  lay  over 
the  sensitive  paper  the  proper  size  mat  that  is  to  be  placed  over  the 
print  when  finished  and  then  cut  accordingly.  Considerable  paper 
can  be  saved  in  this  way  and  printed  in  card  size. 

There  should  always  be  an  assortment  of  different  size  mats  in 
the  printing-room ;  one  of  each  size  will  do,  which  should  be  kept 
expressly  for  this  purpose. 

In  cutting  the  paper  for  an  11  x  14  print  the  length  of  the  sheet  is 
generally  placed  before  the  printer,  and  the  paper  bent  over  to  the 
further  edge  of  the  sheet,  and  then  creased,  and  thus  cut  into  two 
equal  pieces,  one  of  which  can  be  used  for  the  contemplated  print. 
I  would  recommend  that  instead  of  taking  exactly  one-half  of  the 
sheet  of  paper,  as  described  above,  to  take  about  an  inch  more  than 
the  half,  so  as  to  allow  for  any  slight  tear  that  may  happen  along 
the  edges  of  the  paper  during  the  washing,  toning,  &c.,  and  also  so 
as  to  be  sure  of  having  the  paper  plenty  wide  enough  for  the  different 
sized  mats. 

I  have  seen  some  nice  prints  printed  upon  the  exact  half  of  a  sheet 
of  paper,  which,  when  taken  from  the  final  washing  (and  the  edges 
trimmed,  being  slightly  torn),  were  then  too  narrow  to  be  covered 
with  the  proper  size  mats,  and  had  to  be  rejected,  whereas,  if  in 


CUTTING   THE   PAPER. 


41 


22  inches. 


4  2-5 
inch. 


FIG.  11. 


cutting  this  paper  they  had  made  allowance  for  this  final  trimming, 
the  prints  would  have  been  saved.  The  rest  of  the  sheet  can  be  cut 
very  well  into  sixteen  or  eighteen  card  pieces. 

In  cutting  cabinets  out  of  a  sheet  fifteen  is  all  that  can  very  well 
be  obtained,  and  to  get  that  number  lay  the  sheet  on  a  wide  table, 
or  printing-bench  (with  the  length  of  it  running  from  right  to  left), 
and  divide  it  into  three  equal  parts.  By  laying  the  cabinet-glass  on 
these  strips  of  paper,  and  cutting  the  paper  a  little  wider  than  the 
glass,  five  cabinets  can  be  obtained  from  each  strip,  and  fifteen  out 
of  the  whole.  These  pieces  will  be  plenty  large,  both  in  length  and 
width  ;  besides,  this  is  a  very  con- 
venient and  economical  way  to  cut 
the  paper  without  waste. 

By  a  glance  at  the  cut  (Fig.  11) 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  size  of  the 
pieces  will  be  4|  x  6  inches,  and 
consequently  there  will  be  more 
room  for  the  width  than  there  will 
be  for  the  length.  The  edges  of 
the  width  side  of  the  paper  can  be  trimmed  a  little,  as  there  is  usu- 
ally some  little  tear,  or  some  other  defect,  that  can  thus  advantage- 
ously be  got  rid  of.  Often,  when  there  are  only  a  few  cabinets  to 
be  printed,  I  take  a  quarter  sheet,  and  bend  over  the  length  of  it 
to  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  of  the  opposite  side,  crease  it,  and 
then  cut  with  the  paper-knife.  You  thus  obtain  a  large  and  small 
piece  ;  the  smaller  one  of  these  can  be  cut  into  four  cards,  and  the 
larger  one  can  be  cut  in  two,  and  thus  obtain  two  generous  size  cabi- 
nets, or  the  printer  can  use  the  larger  of  the  two  pieces  for  printing 
the  4x4  size.  This  is  the  way  I  obtain  my  4x4  pieces  when  I  wish 
them. 

The  beginner  must  remember  that,  in  bending  over  the  length  of 
a  sheet  of  paper  18  x  22  inches  in  size,  the  divided 
paper  will  be  11  x  18  inches  in  size,  which  is  termed, 
in  the  language  of  the  printing-room,  half-sheet. 

To  obtain  the  quarter  sheet  the  length  of  the  half- 
sheet  is  cut  equally  in  two  pieces,  and  then  the  size 
will  be  9  x  11  inches. 

A  glance  at  Fig.  12  will  show  that  either  a  gen- 
erous size,  4x4,  or  a  couple  of  nice  cabinet  pieces, 
together  with  four  cartes,  can  be  easily  obtained 
from  a  quarter-sheet. 

To  obtain  32  cartes,  quarter  the  sheet,  and  divide 
each  quarter  into  eight  equal  pieces. 


9  inch. 


FIG.  12. 


42 


THE    PRACTICAL    PRINTER. 


9  inches. 

$ 

H 

CO 

£ 
a 

g 

i 

^ 

3%  x  9  inches. 
Stereoscope. 

FIG.  13. 


18  inches. 


FIG.  13.  To  obtain  36  pieces  out  of  a  sheet  it  is  necessary  for  con- 
venience to  first  quarter  it,  and  then  divide  it 
into  three  equal  strips  taken  from  the  length 
of  the  paper.  The  pieces,  as  thus  cut,  will 
measure  3|x9  inches,  which  will  answer  admi- 
rably for  the  stereoscopic  size. 

Each  one  of  these  strips  of  paper  can  be  cut 
into  three  generous  cartes,  making  nine  out  of 
a  quarter,  and  thirty-six  out  of  a  whole  sheet. 
Forty-two  cartes  can  be  obtained  very  neatly 
by  laying  the  sheet  before  you  (Fig.  14),  and  dividing  the  length 
into  seven  equal  parts  ;  when  done  each  strip  should  measure  31  x  18 

inches.  Now,  out  of  each  of 
these  seven  strips  of  paper 
there  can  be  six  pieces  of 
paper  cut,  which  will  be  3  x 
3  i  inches  in  size.  The  whole 
number  of  pieces  will  be 
forty-two.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  size  of  the  carte 
pieces  (3x3}  inches)  does 
not  allow  but  a  very  little 
room,  for  waste  paper  in 
trimming  after  printing,  and 
thus  it  will  be  found  neces- 
sary to  exercise  some  care 
in  placing  these  pieces  on 


FlGt  14  the  negative  for  printing. 

To  obtain  the  forty-two 

card  pieces  from  the  sheet  without  waste  great  care  is  required  in 
the  sensitizing  of  the  paper  to  prevent  tearing,  and  also  to  prevent 
silver  from  getting  on  the  back  of  it ;  and  in  the  cutting  of  it  to  use 
either  the  shears  or  the  paper-knife  with  care,  and  do  not  tear  the 
paper  with  the  hands,  as  is  very  often  done,  especially  when  the  printer 
is  in  a  hurry. 

In  making  out  the  above  I  have  considered  the  sheet  of  paper  to 
be  18  x  22  inches  in  size,  but  it  is  seldom  that  the  sheet  measures 
exactly  this,  for  the  length  often  measures  from  one-quarter  to  one 
inch  more,  but  never  less,  while  the  width  is  invariably  the  same. 
When  this  is  the  case  a  little  better  margin  is  allowed  in  cutting  the 
sheet  up,  which  is  a  good  thing,  especially  when  a  large  number  of 
small  pieces  are  to  be  obtained  from  the  sheet.  Forty-two  pieces  is 
all  that  should  be  obtained  from  a  sheet  of  paper  which  measures 


THE   PRINTING-BOARDS.  43 

18  x  22  (or  18  x  22£,  &c.)  inches,  because  the  pieces  of  paper  are 
now  as  small  as  they  should  be  with  safe  results  to  the  prints,  on 
account  of  bad  edges,  &c.,  which  it  is  often  necessary  to  trim  after 
printing.  There  is  a  way  to  obtain  forty-eight  and  even  fifty- 
two  pieces  of  paper  from  the  sheet,  but  I  would  not  advise  any  of 
my  readers  to  try  to  obtain  that  quantity,  as  there  are  many  disad- 
vantages connected  with  it  that  more  than  neutralize  the  benefits. 
The  paper  is  sometimes  cut  up  to  the  exact  carte  size,  and  then  printed 
up  as  it  is,  thus  saving  the  trimming  of  the  prints  after  printing. 
This  is,  perhaps  (?),  a  good  way,  but  for  the  beginner  it  is  very  risky, 
because  the  paper  will  have  to  be  placed  exactly  on  the  negative  or 
else  the  print  will  be  worthless.  Even  to  the  experienced  printer 
this  is  very  difficult,  because  the  greatest  care  and  skill  are  required 
to  do  it  as  it  should  he  done ;  then  the  inexperienced  printer  could  not 
hope  to  do  it  successfully. 


CHAPTER   VII. 
THE  PBINTING-BOARDS. 

FOR  the  purpose  of  printing  from  the  negatives  upon  the  sensitive 
paper,  printing-boards  are  constructed.  The  sizes  of  these  printing- 
boards  vary  according  to  the  size  of  the  negatives.  The  imperial 
and  the  common  card  negatives  are  generally  made  upon  5x8  glass  ; 
then  the  printing-boards  intended  for  this  size  glass  should  have 
this  dimension  on  the  bed  of  the  frame.  The  whole-size  negatives 
should  be  made  on  either  the  6^  x  8£,  7  x  9,  or  even  the  8  x  10  size 
glass,  and  for  the  printing  of  them  a  larger  board  is,  of  course,  nec- 
essary, which  should  have  (as  in  the  case  of  the  smaller  boards)  a 
bed  of  the  same  dimensions  as  the  different  size  negatives.  Besides 
the  bed  printing-frame  there  is  also  another  kind  of  board  used, 
which  is  called  the  flat  printing-board. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  printing-boards  should  be  made 
of  some  well-seasoned  hard  wood,  as  they  are  exposed  in  all  climates 
and  temperatures.  The  depth  of  the  bed  printing-frames  depends 
on  the  particular  use  that  the  board  is  to  be  put  to.  For  instance, 
a  certain  kind  of  boards  are  made  for  printing  plain  or  medallion 
prints,  and  another  kind  for  printing  vignettes. 

Now,  in  the  latter  case,  it  is  essential  that  the  boards  should  be 
made  deeper  than  in  the  former,  because,  in  printing  vignettes, 
greater  softness  is  thereby  given  to  the  prints  if  there  is  considerable 
space  between  the  negative  and  the  vignetting  card  board. 


44 


THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


You  ask,  Why  not  make  all  of  the  boards  deep,  as  they  will  be 
much  more  handy  ?    Because  the  depth  of  the  boards  will  cast  a 


FIG.  15. 


shadow  over  the  impressions  on  the  negatives  if  the  rays  of  the  sun 
strike  them  obliquely,  and  thus  ruin  the  prints  ;  but  this  may  be 
remedied,  and  the  boards  all  made  quite  deep,  by  placing  them 
when  printing,  up  to  the  sunlight.  This  is  not  always  advisable, 
however. 

FIG.  16. 


In  speaking  of  deep  (raised)  printing-boards,  I  refer  more  to  small 
ones,  as  5  x  8,  6£  x  8|,  &c.  (Figs.  15  and  16),  rather  than  to  the  largest 
sizes,  viz.,  11x14,  14x18,  &c.,  for  in  the  case  of  the  common  card 
and  the  so-called  cabinet,  we  can  obtain  by  far  better  vignettes  by 
printing  them  by  means  of  common  card-board  of  a  suitable  size  and 
shape,  opening  and  raised  printing-boards,  than  we  can  with  the 
wooden  block ;  while  with  the  larger  sizes,  I  prefer  the  nicely  made 
vignette-blocks.  However,  more  of  this  will  be  written  of  hereafter. 

The  backboards  of  the  frames  should  also  be  made  of  well-seasoned 
wood,  and  the  springs,  which  should  be  attached  to  them,  should  be 
made  of  good  spring  brass,  and  so  arranged  to  them  that  they  will 
give  an  even  and  gentle  pressure  to  fhe  negative  when  it  is  placed  in 
the  frame,  and  the  backboard  fastened  in. 


THE   PRINTING-BOARDS. 


45 


The  springs  meet  the  backboard  of  the  smaller  frames  in  one  place, 
which  is  generally  the  centre  of  the  frame  ;  but  in  the  large  frames 
they  meet  the  backboard  in  two  places  (Fig.  17),  and  for  convenience 
are  not  attached  to  the  backboard,  but  to  the  frame  itself,  swinging 
back  and  forth  at  will  by  means  of  the  hinges. 

FIG.  17. 


FIG.  18. 


The  backboard  should  have  soft  pieces  of  cotton  flannel  glued  to 
it,  napped  side  out,  on  that  side  of  course  which  is  to  be  placed 
nearest  to  the  negative.  This  gives  a  soft  cushion  to  the  backboard, 
which  is  a  desirable  thing.  As  a  general  thing,  loose  pads  are  placed 
in  the  board  on  to  the  sensitive  paper,  but  there  is  no  absolute  neces- 
sity for  this,  if  there  is  one  or  more  good  pieces  glued  to  the  back- 
board. The  printing-boards  thus  far  described  have  consisted  of  two 
parts,  the  frame  and  the  back- 
board, but  there  is  another 
very  good  frame  (Figs.  18  and 
19),  which  is  very  popular 
among  printers  on  account  of 
its  convenience  when  print- 
ing the  crescent  line  on  the 
medallion  prints,  as  well  as 
for  various  other  uses.  Its 
construction  is  very  simple, 
consisting  of  a  flat  piece  of 
some  hard  wood,  the  width 
of  which  is  cut  into  two  pieces 
in  such  a  way  as  to  have 
one  piece  one-third  larger 

than  the  other.     The  separate  pieces  are  now  joined  together  by 
means  of  a  couple  of  small  hinges. 


46  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

A  button  is  fastened  to  the  smaller  of  the  two  pieces.  This  but- 
ton should  be  large  enough  to  keep  the  two  pieces  together  when  it 
is  buttoned.  This  arrangement  will  permit  of  the  larger  of  the  two 
pieces  being  lowered  or  not,  according  to  the  desire  of  the  printer. 
The  reason  of  this  will  at  once  be  obvious. 

On  the  front  part  of  the  board,  and  at  the  lower  part  of  it,  two  or 
three  pieces  of  woollen  cloth  should  be  tacked,  which  will  give  the 
paper,  when  laid  upon  it,  a  soft,  yet  sufficiently  hard  cushion  for  the 
purpose  required. 

The  negatives  are  kept  in  place  on  these  boards,  if  printing  is  to 
be  done,  by  means  of  some  spring  brass  with  wooden  feet,  each  foot, 
two  in  number,  being  made  of  a  piece  of  wood  two  inches  long,  one- 
third  of  an  inch  wide,  and  about  one-half  of  an  inch  thick. 

These  feet  are  fastened  to  one  end  of  each  spring  by  means  of  some 
screws ;  they  are  so  fastened  that  they  will  move  or  not,  at  the  op- 
tion of  the  printer.  The  other  end  of  these  springs  are  fastened  to 
the  lower  corners  of  the  board. 

The  wooden  feet  are  used  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  pasteboard 
(attached  to  the  vignette-blocks)  close  on  to  the  negative,  as  well  as 
to  have  the  broad  surface  of  the  wood  on  to  the  negative  rather  than 
the  brass  itself,  as  the  latter  is  very  dangerous  to  the  safety  of  the 
negatives. 

Never  use  the  common  iron  springs  in  vignetting,  as  they  are  very 
likely  to  slip  and  break  the  negatives. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
KEEPING  TALLY. 

THERE  are  various  methods  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
account  of  the  number  of  prints  obtained  from  the  negatives. 

One  of  the  best  ways  to  keep  tally  that  I  have  ever  seen  or  used 
I  will  here  give.  It  is  both  simple  and  convenient,  and  there  is  no 
need  of  any  mistake  whatever  if  the  printer  is  attending  to  his  busi- 
ness. 

There  are  many  disadvantages  connected  with  the  other  devices 
of  keeping  tally,  and  the  greater  part  of  these  are  the  liability  of 
mistakes  occurring  in  one  way  or  the  other,  and  the  inconvenient 
manner  of  keeping  the  tally. 


KEEPING   TALLY — VIGNETTE    PRINTING-BLOCKS.         47 


The  materials  used  for  this  purpose  are  a  soft  lead-pencil  and  some 
strips  of  common  erasible  tablet. 

A  part  of  the  main  printing-board  is  cut  away  for  this  purpose, 
and  that  part  should  be  the  back  part  of  the  frame,  so  that  in  taking 
a  print  off  the  printer  will  be  reminded  to  make  a  mark  or  tally  for 
it,  his  attention  having  been  attracted  by  seeing  the  tablet. 

The  necessity  for  cutting  away  a  part  of  the  board  is  because  the 
surface  of  this  tablet  should  be 
below  the  level  of,  the  top  of  the 
board,  for  then  it  will  not  be 
rubbed  and  scraped  by  con- 
tact with  other  boards,  and 
thus,  in  a  very  short  time, 
ruin  the  tablet,  which  it 
would  do  if  precautions  were 
not  taken  to  the  contrary. 

This  tablet  can  be  glued  to 
the  board,  or  tacked  with 
one-ounce  tacks. 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  glance  at  the  cut  that  ten  prints  have  been 
printed  from  the  negative  in  the  printing-frame,  and  when  two  more 
are  printed  the  order  will  be  done.  When  this  negative  is  finished 
the  marks  on  the  tablet  can  be  erased  with  a  damp  rag,  and  the 
negative  placed  away.  Another  negative  is  placed  in  the  frame,  the 
number  of  prints  wanted  are  placed  at  the  left  of  the  tablet,  and 
then  this  negative  is  ready  to  be  printed,  and  the  tally  kept  as  before. 


Keeping  Tally. 


CHAPTER   IX. 
VIGNETTE  PRINTING-BLOCKS. 

Iisr  the  making  of  the  vignette  printing-blocks,  as  well  as  in  that 
of  the  printing-boards,  great  care  should  be  given  to  the  materials 
used.  The  wood  should  be  well  seasoned,  and  the  lighter  it  is  the 
better,  common  pine  or  basswood  answering  very  well  for  this 
purpose.  The  sizes  of  these  blocks  vary  of  course  with  the  different 
sizes  of  the  impressions  on  the  negatives.  For  instance,  blocks  in- 
tended for  4-4  negatives  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  size  that  4-4 
negatives  are  generally  made. 


48 


THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


The  opening  of  the  wooden  printing-blocks  should  then  be  in  pro- 
portion with  the  impression  on  the  negatives,  as  has  before  been  said. 
JSTow  for  the  "whole  size  "  The  width  of  the  opening  should  be  3 
to  4  inches,  and  the  length  should  vary  from  3£  to  4^  inches. 

For  the  next  size,  larger  head,  7x9,  the  width  should  be  from  3£ 
to  4i  inches,  and  the  length  from  4^  to  5£  inches. 

For  11  x  14  vignette  negatives  the  width  should  vary  from  5|  to  6|, 
and  the  length  from  6|  to  8|  inches.  For  14  x  18  negatives  the  width 
should  be  from  6|  to  7|  inches,  and  the  length  from  9  to  11  inches. 

The  above-stated  dimensions  answer  only  for  a  trifle  lighter  back- 
ground than  the  average ;  for  with  a  darker  one  a  dark  piece  of 
paper  would  have  to  be  placed  at  the  sides,  and  if  the  draperies  are 
dark,  then  there  should  also  be  a  piece  at  the  bottom  part  of  the 
opening,  for  without  it  the  block,  and  consequently  the  halo,  would 
be  too  large.  For  a  lighter  background  than  the  one  for  which  I 
have  given  the  above  dimensions  the  block,  if  anything,  would  be 
a  trifle  small.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  give  a  fixed  rule  for  the 
size  of  the  different  vignette-blocks,  because  there  are  a  very  great 
many  things  to  be  taken  into  consideration  which  renders  it  almost 
impossible.  The  only  way  is  to  be  guided  by  good  taste. 

The  depth  of  these  vignette-blocks  is  probably  about  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  the  making  of  them. 

The  importance  of  duly  considering  their  depth  may  be  readily 

seen  and  answered  by  asking 
ourselves  the  following  ques- 
tion : 

What  is  the  object  of  a  deep 
vignette-block  ?  We  answer  : 
To  make  the  halos  soft. 

These  blocks  should  be  deep 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
opening  of  the  vignette  of  the 
block. 

Thus,  for  a  4-4  up  to  an  8  x  10 
size  vignette-block  the  depth 
should  vary  from  about  one  and 
a  quarter  to  two  and  a  quarter 
inches. 

For  11  x  14  vignette-blocks, 

from  two  and  a  half  to  three  and  a  half  inches  ;  and  for  14  x  18 
blocks,  from  three  and  a  quarter  to  four  and  a  half  inches. 

This  is,  however,  very  changeable,  according  to  a  variety  of  cir- 
cumstances. For  instance : 


FIG.  19. 


VIGNETTE   PRINTING-BLOCKS.  49 

1st.  The  printing- board  may  be  so  made  that  the  vignette-board 
when  tacked  to  it  would  be  very  much  raised,  on  account  of  the 
make  of  the  printing-frame,  then,  of  course,  the  block  should  not 
be  quite  so  deep. 

2d.  The  background  of  the  negative  may  be  very  dark,  or  it  may 
be  very  light.  This  refers  more  to  the  use  of  the  board  when  print- 
ing than  to  the  making  of  it ;  for  the  negatives  should  be  made  for 
vignetting,  rather  than  the  vignette-boards  for  the  negatives ;  at  least, 
this  is  so  as  regards  the  making  allowance  for  the  background  of  the 
negatives. 

3d.  The  background  may  be  faulty,  so  as  not  to  admit  of  a  large 
halo,  but^of  a  smaller,  and  as  soft  a  one.  In  that  case  we  some- 
times have  to  make  special  blocks,  but  often  there  are  other  blocks, 
of  a  different  shape,  which  will,  with  the  aid  of  one  or  two  "dodges, " 
answer  very  well. 

There  are  a  number  of  cases  in  which  the  depth  of  the  blocks  for 
the  same  size  negative  should  differ  considerably. 

The  shape  of  the  opening  of  a  vignette-block  should  be  like  unto 
that  of  an  ordinary  hen's  egg.  The  narrow  end  represents  the  head 
or  upper  part  of  the  block  and  the  wide  end  the  lower  part,  because 
there  should  always  be  plenty  of  balance  in  a  vignette,  and  that  can 
only  be  obtained,  as  shown  in  Chapter  XII,  by  having  plenty  of  the 
body,  and  a  good  share  of  the  shoulders  in  the  vignette.  In  the 
making  of  these  blocks  the  opening  should  be  bevelled  out  quite  a  dis- 
tance towards  the  under  part  of  the  block,  all  of  the  way  from  two 
to  four  inches,  according  to  the  size,  so  that  it  will  not  stop  the  halo 
from  printing  out,  and  thus  occasion  a  sharp  line  on  the  print. 

It  is  always  an  important  item,  in  considering  the  making  of 
wooden  vignette-blocks,  to  have  them  as  light  in  weight  as  possible, 
because,  when  the  blocks  are  quite  heavy,  they  are  bungling  to  use, 
and  their  weight  makes  them  dangerous  to  the  safety  of  the  nega- 
tives in  more  ways  than  one. 

The  weight  then  of  the  vignette-blocks,  especially  those  of  the 
larger  kinds,  can  be  lessened  by  tacking  thick  pasteboard  to  the 
under  part  of  the  wooden  block. 

In  tacking  this  on,  however,  a  part  of  the  board  around  the  un- 
der part  of  the  whole  block,  and  beyond  where  the  bevelling  of  the 
opening  stops,  should  be  cut  below  the  rest  of  the  surface.  The 
place  cut  should  be  from  a  quarter  to  three-eighths  of  an  inch  wide, 
and  a  little  deeper  than  the  thickness  of  the  pasteboard  which  is  to 
be  tacked  to  the  block. 

The  pasteboard  should  then  be  tacked  to  this  under  surface ;  and 
the  heads  of  the  tacks  should  be  below  the  level  of  the  real  bottom  of  the 


50  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

block,  so  that  there  will  be  no  danger  of  breaking  the  negative,  on 
account  of  the  tacks  being  pressed  against  the  brittle  glass  on 
which  the  negative  is  made.  By  paying  especial  heed  to  this,  it 
may  be  of  great  value  to  the  young  beginner,  and  will  perhaps  be 
the  means  of  preventing  his  breaking  more  negatives  in  the  future. 
Of  course  the  advantage  of  so  doing  will  be  and  has  been  recog- 
nized by  all  printers  throughout  the  country.  There  is  no  danger 
whatever  to  the  negative  from  breakage  by  the  use  of  vignette- 
blocks  made  as  has  been  described,  and  there  is  also  no  excuse  for 
bad  vignetting  with  blocks  if  the  above  is  carried  out. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  perusal  of  the  above  that  I  have  altogether 
omitted  writing  anything  about  a  vignette-block  smaller  than  a 
"  whole-size,"  because,  for  those  small  sizes,  I  do  not  at  all  believe 
in  using  wooden  vignette-blocks,  as  will  be  shown  more  fully  in 
Chapter  XII.  Up  to  4-4  size  any  way  Waymouth's  Yignette 
Papers  are  very  superior. 


CHAPTER   X. 

TREATMENT  OF  THE  NEGATIVES  BEFORE 
PRINTING. 

BEFORE  printing  from  the  negatives  they  should  be  held  up  and 
studied  by  transmitted  light,  and  if  there  is  any  way  to  improve 
them,  then  it  should  be  done. 

The  skill  required  in  printing  from  the  negatives  does  not  consist 
in  placing  them  in  the  printing-boards,  as  received  from  the  re- 
toucher, and  printing  from  them  mechanically,  by  putting  a  piece  of 
paper  from  the  same  sheet  of  sensitive  paper  on  negatives  differing 
greatly  from  each  other,  and  then  printing  them  all  to  about  the 
same  shade. 

The  negatives,  to  warrant  this  treatment,  should  be  very  evenly 
made  as  regards  lighting,  exposure,  &c.,  and  this  is  not  a  very 
regular  occurrence  in  the  best  of  photographic  studios.  The  nega- 
tives, as  they  are  received  from  the  retoucher,  should,  to  be  sure, 
in  the  majority  of  cases,  be  ready  for  printing  without  any  further  treat- 
ment of  the  printer,  but  I  have,  however,  found  this  to  be  a  very  rare 
occurrence,  very  often,  indeed,  seeing  negatives  which  are  faulty  in 
some  particular  place,  and  which  can  be  vastly  improved  by  a  little 
doctoring  before  printing. 

This  part  of  the  printing  is  probably  one  of  the  most  important, 
and  the  value  of  a  printer  is  in  a  great  degree  determined  by  it. 


TREATMENT   OF   THE    NEGATIVES   BEFORE   PRINTING.       51 

It  may  be  well  to  state  here,  that  in  proving  the  negatives,  we 
only  take  out  the  most  objectionable  imperfections  in  the  face,  and 
leave  the  final  retouching  to  be  done  by  the  artist,  when  they  have 
decided  on  the  negatives  they  prefer. 

I  will  now  take  up  separately  the  different  parts  of  the  negatives,, 
and  state  the  manner  in  which  they  can  be  improved. 


FIG.  20. 


THE  BACKGROUND. 

Often  there  are   streaks  (Fig.  20)  running  through   the    back- 
ground which  should  be  filled  up  with  lead  to  the  opacity  of  the 
surrounding  parts,  when  these  streaks  are  not  as  dense  as  the  rest  of 
the  background  when  viewed  through 
transmitted  light. 

Sometimes  the  background  is  very 
bad  indeed,  so  much  so  that  the  pen- 
cil will  not  thoroughly  remove  the 
defects. 

In  such  cases  the  negative,  besides 
being  printed  In  a  small  vignette  to 
get  rid  of  a  great  proportion  of  it, 
may  have  upon  the  back  of  it,  over 
those  transparent  parts  which  are 
likely  to  be  visible  in  the  print,  some 
transparent  color. 

I  always  use  for  this  purpose  some 
Prussian  blue.  This  color  should  be 
laid  over  the  necessary  places  in 
smooth  and  even  strips ;  and  then 

the  background,  according  to  how  nicely  this  blue  painting  has  been 
done,  will  print  proportionately  better. 

Often  "smoking  the  negative  "  is  resorted  to,  which  consists  in 
moving  constantly  the  back  of  the  negative  over  a  smoking  lamp 
until  the  smoke  has  gathered  on  the  negative  to  the  right  opacity. 

Then,  after  removing  the  smoke  that  may  be  on  the  face,  hands, 
and  other  parts  of  the  figure,  you  proceed  to  remove  it  from  that 
part  of  the  background  which  prints  the  lightest  on  the  print,  leav- 
ing it  on  that  part  that  prints  the  darkest,  and  then  the  smoke,  if 
it  is  not  too  thick,  will  stop  out  about  enough,  so  that  the  back- 
ground may  print  pretty  fairly  in  a  vignette  or  illuminated  print, 
as  the  case  may  be. 

Always  print  negatives  with  bad  backgrounds  in  vignette  style  if 
it  is  possible. 


52  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

For  extreme  faulty  backgrounds  it  is  best  to  make  another  nega- 
tive of  the  sitter  if  it  is  possible,  and  not  resort  to  the  "  smoking," 
&c.,  unless  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  another  one. 

THE  SHADOWS 

The  Face.—  The  shadows  of  the  face  will  now  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. 

In  life,  all  of  the  shadows  of  the  face  are  transparent,  i.  e.,  there 
is  always  plenty  of  detail  in  them. 

In  a  negative,  however,  this  is  often  different,  the  shadows  gen- 
erally being  quite  black,  more  so  by  far  in  the  majority  of  cases 
than  they  should  be. 

Under  the  eye  there  is  often  a  heavy  line,  and  over  it  a  very  heavy 
shadow,  which  in  life  does  not  show  so  plainly  as  it  does  in  the 
negative,  partly  because  they  are  flesh  color,  and  because— unless 
the  person  is  in  direct  sunshine— there  is  no  marked  contrasts  be- 
tween the  light  and  shade,  and  even  then,  if  we  do  not  look  for 
them,  they  are  very  seldom  attracted  by  an  eye  unaccustomed  to 
the  studying  of  the  different  effects  of  light  and  shade  throughout 
all  nature. 

In  a  photograph,  where  every  thing' is  either  black  or  white,  with 
proper  gradations,  these  shadows  and  lines  are  more  observable 
than  they  are  in  life,  on  account  of  their  printing  black. 

These  shadows,  &c.,  to  be  true  (at  least  as  far  as  possible)  to  na- 
ture, should  be  removed  more  or  less,  according  to  circumstances. 
(Figs.  21  and  22.)  The  lines  under  the  eyes  should  then  be  removed 

FIG.  21.  FIG.  23.  FIG.  22. 


in  a  great  measure,  in  many  cases  (according  to  the  age  of  the  per- 
son, &c.),  only  leaving  a  trace  of  each  line  there,  and  they  will  then 
be  as  observable  in  the  photograph  as  they  are  in  life 

The  shadows  under  the  eyebrows  should  then  be  very  much  re- 
moved, unless  there  has  been  considerable  time  given  to  the  nega- 
tive in  exposing,  and  thus  have  obtained  soft  shadows  with  plenty  of 
detail.  As  long  as  there  is  detail  and  softness  to  the  shadows,  there 
is  never  much  need  of  having  them  lightened  more  than  a  mere 
trifle. 


TREATMENT   OF  THE   NEGATIVES   BEFORE   PRINTING.       53 

In  lighting  the  shadows  in  printing,  young  beginners  often  carry 
it  too  far — so  far  as  to  make  the  prints  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
eye,  or  wherever  the  place  may  be,  look  very  flat  (Fig.  23),  and  thus 
have  an  equally  bad  result,  but  in  another  way.  About  the  eye  there 
should  always  l>e  a  proper  amount  of  shadow,  so  as  not  to  make  it  look 
swollen. 

This  lightening  of  the  shadows  can  very  nicely  be  done  by  strip- 
ing evenly  or  stippling  some  transparent  color  on  the  back  of  the 
negative,  exactly  behind  the  place  to  be  lightened.  As  has  before 
been  said,  we  generally  use  for  this  purpose  Prussian  blue,  which 
comes  in  little  cakes,  costing  about  seventy-five  cents  per  cake.  It 
is  applied  with  a  suitable  brush  wet  with  a  little  water,  and  upon 
which  a  little  of  this  blue  is  dissolved.  The  thickness  of  this  color 
can  be  determined  only  by  a  great  deal  of  experience,  and  to  blue- 
paint  a  negative  nicely  is  accomplished  only  after  considerable  prac- 
tice. 

The  lines  between  the  eyes  can  be  touched  out  best  by  the  use  of 
a  Siberian  No.  2  lead-pencil.  In  touching  them,  do  not  take  them 
thoroughly  out,  unless  the  scowl  was  occasioned  by  the  strong  light  in 
ivhich  the  sitter  sat  and  is  not  habitual. 

There  are  sometimes  very  heavy  shadows  occasioned  in  lighting — 
"after  the  manner  of  Rembrandt "  (?) — and  these  shadows  are 
sometimes  so  very  heavy  as  to  be  displeasing ;  then  it  becomes 
necessary  to  soften  them. 

This  is  done  before  printing,  by  placing  a  proper  coat  of  "blue 
paint  "  on  the  back  of  the  negative  and  over  the  whole  side  of  the 
face.  Considerable  skill  is  required  in  placing  this  on  so  large  a 
place,  because  if  it  is  not  placed  on  even  it  will  print  spotty. 

Sometimes  there  are  heavy  shadows  under  the  nose,  chin,  and 
often  in  the  ears.  Treat  as  above. 

It  is  necessary  sometimes  to  prepare  the  lights  of  the  negatives 
for  printing,  although  generally  they  are  doctored  during  and  after 
the  time  of  printing. 

For  instance :  very  often  the  lightest  side  of  the  face  will  be  too 
light  when  the  shaded  side  is  fully  printed,  and  to  prevent  this  it  i& 
sometimes  necessary  to  blue-paint  (as  we  shall  hereafter  term  it)  the 
shaded  side  as  described  above,  so  as  to  permit  the  light  side  to 
print  without  overprinting  the  shadow  one. 

Generally  while  printing,  when  the  shaded  side  is  done,  and  there 
is  some  detail  on  the  light  side,  the  print  is  taken  off,. and.  the  blank, 
white  side  shaded  or  tinted  a  little  in  strong  light,  by  permitting 
the  light  to  pass  through  a  suitable  aperture,  cut  in  a  dark  piece  of 


54  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

paper,  on  that  side  to  be  tinted.  More  of  this  further  on.  Let 
this  remark  answer  for  the  present : 

Never  do  the  shading  as  last  described  unless  there  is  some  detail  on 
the  light  side,  because  if  there  is  not,  the  discoloring  of  the  light  side  will 
flatten  it  very  much,  and  thus  be  the  means  of  ruining  the  prints.  Your 
object  is  to  soften  a  little,  and  not  flatten  a  great  deal,  and  as  before 
said,  there  should  be  some  detail  on  that  side  to  accomplish  the  de- 
sired result. 

In  shading  this  side,  a  very  few  seconds1  exposure  to  the  sunlight 
will  suffice. 

INTENSITY. 

In  glancing  through  a  negative  the  intensity  of  it  is  also  to  be 
thought  of,  because  it  is  necessary  to  adopt  a  certain  mode  of  treat- 
ment for  such  a  negative,  whether  it  is  intense,  weak,  or  medium. 

An  intense  negative,  as  shown  under  the  head  of  Printing  Intense 
Negatives,  is  so  called  on  account  of  the  whites  of  the  negatives, 
such  as  the  face,  hands,  arms,  &c.  (when  viewed  by  transmitted 
light)  being  quite  dense;  more  or  less  so,  according  to  the  degree  of 
intensity.  Such  a  negative  will  yield  prints  that  will  be  correspond- 
ingly light. 

When  the  negative  is  too  intense  the  whites  of  the  prints  will  be 
what  is  termed  "chalky,"  and  if  the  exposure  of  the  print  is  so  far 
continued  as  to  print  in  detail  on  those  whites  then  the  shadows 
will  print  too  black,  thus  making  a  decided  black  and  white  print. 
This  is,  however,  treated  under  the  head  of  Printing  Intense  Nega- 
tives. 

My  object  at  present  is  to  state  the  treatment  of  intense  negatives 
'before  printing. 

As  such  negatives  should  be  printed  quickly,  they  should  not  have 
any  color  on  the  back  of  them,  to  take  out  shadows,  &c.,  as  described 
above,  because  it  will  then  be  necessary  to  delay  the  time  of  printing 
them  a  little,  to  prevent  this  color  from  printing  a  harsh  edge  on 
the  prints,  as  it  will  certainly  do  if  the  negatives  are  placed  in  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sunlight.  Fill  up  these  places,  if  necessary,  with 
lead  from  the  pencil  on  the  varnished  side  of  the  negatives.  If  one 
coat  of  varnish  will  not  take  enough  lead  then  varnish  again  with  a 
thin  varnish,  and  then  this  new  surface  will  probably  take  all  the 
lead  that  is  -necessary.  If,  however,  this  will  not  answer,  then  blue- 
pain-t  the  negative  and  print  in  strong  sunlight,  after  having  covered 
the  printing-frame  with  one  or  more  ground-glasses,  and  even  with 
a  tissue-paper,  if  it  is  found  necessary.  In  printing  intense  nega- 
tives, print  more  for  the  shadows  than  for  the  lights. 


TREATMENT    OF   THE   NEGATIVES   BEFORE    PRINTING.       55 


WEAKNESS. 

Weakness  in  negatives  is  the  contrary  to  that  which  is  described 
above,  in  relation  to  intensity. 

Weak  negatives  are  very  thin,  i.  e.,  they  are  semi-opaque,  or  have 
more  transparent  lights  than  an  intense  negative,  and  when  held  to 
the  light,  objects  beyond  can  be  distinctly  seen  through  the  densest 
parts. 

Of  course  the  rays  of  the  sun  would  pass  through  such  a  negative 
more  quickly  than  it  would  an  intense  one.  The  beginner  must  re- 
member that  the  quicker  the  light  passes  through  the  negative  the  less 
bold  will  the  result  be. 

The  methods  of  treatment  for  such  negatives  are  very  numerous. 
I  have  frequently  blue-painted  the  whole  of  a  face  and  hands  of  such 
negatives  (with  the  exception,  of  course,  of  the  eyes  and  shadows  in 
the  former)  so  as  to  permit  deeper  printing  of  the  hair,  dress,  &c., 
while  the  face  and  hands  are  printing,  thus  making  the  prints  bolder 
than  they  would  be  if  it  were  not  done.  This  in  a  great  degree  pre- 
vents flatness,  as  the  resemblance  between  the  light,  shades,  back- 
ground, hair,  dress,  &c.,  is  not  so  noticeable.  If  the  background 
prints  about  like  the  figure,  the  prints  can  be  greatly  improved  by 
printing  vignettes  from  the  negatives. 

Flowing  these  negatives  on  the  back  with  yellow  shellac  varnish, 
and  then  scraping  away  those  parts  of  the  varnish  which  covers  the 
hair,  eyes,  and  the  shadows  under  the  chin,  &c.,  is  said  to  be  very 
effective,  as  it  permits  the  shadows  and  those  parts  of  the  nega- 
tives which  should  print  dark  to  print  a  shade  darker  than  they 
would  have  printed  before  this  treatment. 

Printing  under  yellow  and  blue  tissue-paper  is  sometimes  very 
good,  but  the  prints  do  not  work  so  well  in  the  further  operations 
as  they  would  if  they  were  printed  under  white,  and  not  colored 
paper. 

Printing  under  a  ground-glass  laid  flat  on  the  back  of  the  nega- 
tive, ground  side  down,  or  a  piece  of  porcelain  glass,  or  printing  in 
deep  shade,  are  all  very  good  for  weak  negatives. 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  what  has  been  said  about 
weak  negatives  and  their  treatment  will  be  described  more  at  length 
under  the  head  of  Printing  Weak  Negatives. 

DRAPERIES. 

One  of  the  most  important  parts  of  a  negative,  to  the  ladies  at 
least,  is  the  dress,  &c.,  and  upon  this  often  depends  solely  their 
liking  or  disliking  the  photographs. 


56  THE   PRACTICAL    PRINTER. 

Wrinkles  in  dresses,  especially  about  the  upper  part  of  the  body, 
are  to  be  carefully  prevented  from  printing,  if  the  wrinkles  spoil  the 
beauty  of  their  otherwise  jine  form.  Never,  however,  touch  them  if 
they  do  not  spoil  the  figure. 

If  the  figure  is  a  standing  one  and  there  are  many  wrinkles  about 
the  waist  of  a  dress,  caused  by  an  ill-fit  on  the  part  of  the  dressmaker, 
they  should  be  taken  out.  This  can  be  done  with  the  lead-pencil. 

Does  the  lace-collar  show  well  ?  If  not,  touch  up  the  lace-work, 
or,  better  still,  send  the  negative  again  to  the  retoucher  and  get  him 
to  do  it. 

All  of  these  little  things  should  be  looked  at  by  the  printer  before 
he  prints  from  his  negatives,  and  if  there  should  be  anything  that 
you  notice,  and  which  escaped  the  notice  of  the  retoucher,  then  you 
should  never  fail  to  get  the  retoucher  to  improve  them,  by  a  little 
more  work,  before  you  print  a  single  x>r  oof  from  the  negative. 

Are  the  dresses  in  the  negatives  white  ?  If  they  are,  do  you 
think  that  they  will  print  well  ? 

Draw  your  pencil  along  the  tops  of  the  folds,  so  as  to  make  the 
dress  print  bold,  by  having  some  contrast  between  the  lights  and 
slight  shades. 

The  above  answers  for  a  dress  that  has  been  about  rightly  ex- 
posed, but  for  an  overtimed  one,  after  the  face,  hands,  &c.,  of  the 
lady  is  printed  enough,  take  a  cloth,  and,  placing  the  negative-board 
out  in  the  sunlight,  keep  moving  it  over  those  parts  of  the  negative 
and  let  the  dress  print  still  more.  This  is  sometimes  a  tedious  ope- 
ration, but  a  very  good  one. 

The  negative,  if  you  choose,  can  be  printed  by  placing  first  one 
thickness  of  tissue-paper  over  the  whole  negative,  but  on  to  the  out- 
side of  the  printing-board  and  over  the  head,  hands,  &c.,  of  the  nega- 
tives paste  (if  possible  also  on  the  board,  but  over  the  other  tissues 
at  any  rate)  several  other  tissues  cut  to  the  size  of  the  places  that 
you  wish  to  prevent  from  overprinting,  viz.,  the  face,  hands,  &c. 

These  pieces  of  tissue-paper  should  be  pasted  on  the  other  whole 
piece  of  tissue  and  directly  over  the  places  to  be  shaded.  Do  not 
place  paste  over  all  parts  of  the  small  pieces  of  tissue  that  is  to  be 
placed  on  the  boards,  but  just  touch  the  pieces  sufficiently  to  make 
them  stick  to  the  rest  of  the  paper.  It  is  not  necessary  to  have  these 
pieces  lay  so  very  smoothly,  and  it  will  not  matter  much  if  the  edges 
should  happen  to  curl  up  slightly.  Print  face  to  the  sunlight. 

This  treatment  will  permit  the  dress  to  print  darker  without  the 
tedious  operation  of  shading  by  hand  the  face  of  the  negative  to  pre- 
vent it  from  overprinting.  This  is  particularly  advantageous  when 
a  dozen  or  two  prints  are  to  be  printed  from  this  negative,  and  all 


FILLING   OF   THE   BOARDS.  57 

the  time  and  trouble  that  is  required  is  only  while  printing  the  first 
print,  as  the  rest  of  the  order  can  be  printed  like  a  plain  print. 

After  the  order  is  printed  the  tissue-paper  can  easily  be  packed 
away  in  an  envelope  on  the  glass  side  of  the  negative,  and  thus 
saved  for  future  use. 

Dark  dresses  should  sometimes  be  permitted  to  print  after  the 
face  and  other  parts  of  the  whites,  such  as  the  face,  hands,  &c.,  are 
done,  so  as  to  obtain  fine,  rich  draperies. 

Are  there  any  tufts  of  hair  projecting  out  beyond  the  head,  and 
which  you  think  do  not  look  well  ?  If  there  are,  touch  them  out 
with  the  lead-pencil. 

Are  the  frizzles  on  the  lady's  forehead  regular,  and  do  they  look 
pretty  ? 

Can  the  hair  be  improved  in  any  other  way  than  what  has  been 
mentioned? 

Are  the  frowns  removed  as  much  as  they  should  be,  taking  into 
consideration  the  age  of  the  subject  ? 

How  are  the  deep,  heavy  lines  in  the  face ;  are  they  all  right  ? 

The  hollow  cheeks,  cheekbones,  and  the  ears  ;  how  are  they  ? 

Do  the  veins  on  the  hands  and  the  cords  in  the  neck  need  "  doc- 
toring ?" 

Since  we  have  examined  about  all  parts  of  the  negatives  before 
placing  them  out  to  print,  we  will  watch  and  notice  to  see  if  the 
places  doctored  are  properly  done ;  that  the  prints  are  as  bold  and 
brilliant,  yet  as  soft,  as  they  should  be,  and  if  there  is  as  much  de- 
tail in  the  prints  as  we  wish. 


CHAPTER  XL 
FILLING  OF  THE  BOARDS, 

THE  simple  process  of  filling  the  boards,  as  far  as  teaching  it  is 
concerned,  is  often  very  much  neglected  by  the  photographer  in 
learning  his  apprentice  to  print. 

This  neglect  on  the  part  of  his  teacher  of  photography  instils  into 
the  mind  of  the  inexperienced  printer  a  disregard  of  the  importance 
of  this  mechanical  operation,  and  thus  quite  often  blunders,  mis- 
takes, and  breakages  of  negatives  occur,  which  is  called  foolishness, 
heedlessness,  &c.,  by  the  photographer,  and  his  apprentice  is  quite 

5 


58  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

often  cursed  by  him  for  his  stupidity.  The  apprentice  is  of  course 
some  to  blame,  but  the  photographer,  unless  he  has  fully  shown  the 
danger  which  would  arise  from  not  being  careful  in  filling,  is  equally 
to  blame,  at  least  for  the  first  or  second  accident. 

When  a  young  man  first  commences  to  print,  he  should  then  be 
taught  the  carefulness  required  in  filling  the  boards,  and  in  hopes 
that  this  chapter  may  arrest  the  eye  of  the  young  beginner,  I  have 
attempted  to  show  in  what  respects  carefulness  is  required. 

I  have  said  that  this  carefulness  should  be  instilled  into  the  mind 
of  the  young  beginner  when  he  Jirst  commences  to  print.  There  is 
an  old  saying;  "It  is  hard  to  learn  an  old  dog  new  tricks ;"  and 
although  your  printer  may  not  be  an  old  dog,  yet  it  is  applied  to 
beings  possessing  more  intelligence  equally  as  well. 

When  a  printer  has  learned  to  print  carelessly  then  it  is  very  hard 
to  learn  him  carefulness,  and  consequently  such  a  printer  will  always 
be  making  mistakes,  all  his  life,  however  experienced  at  printing  he 
may  be.  Such  is %  partly  the  reason  why  every  person  wlio  contem- 
plates learning  the  photographic  art  should  learn  in  a  gallery  where 
good  work  is  done,  for  in  learning  how  to  make  good  work  careful- 
ness is  also  learned,  which  is  always  a  necessary  accompaniment. 
Kow,  the  placing  of  the  negative  in  or  on  the  printing-boards  is  not 
altogether  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world,  and  in  placing  it  in  to 
print,  please  remember  that  glass  is  quite  brittle  and  that  it  does 
not  take  much  for  it  to  break,  and  very  often  in  letting  the  glass  fall 
in  the  frames,  after  having  placed  one  end  in,  causes  it  to  break,  on 
account  of  some  slight  flaw  along  the  edges. 

For  this  reason  the  negatives,  before  they  are  even  retouched, 
should  have  the  edges  cut  clean,  providing  they  are  not  already  so, 
as  then  there  will  not  be  so  much  danger  of  them  cracking  from 
uneven  cutting. 

The  negative,  if  it  be  a  trifle  large,  should  never  deforced  into  the 
frame  to  save  a  little  trouble  in  cutting  it,  for  they  can  never  be 
forced  into  place,  and  either  the  frame  or  the  negative  will  have  to 
give  way  to  the  pressure,  and  the  negative  will  most  likely  be  the  one. 
If  the  negative  is  a  little  short  or  narrow,  or  both,  then  a  clean  glass 
of  the  same  size  as  the  bed  of  the  printing-frame  should  be  placed  in 
it  and  the  negative  on  top  of  it. 

Then  if  anything  gives  way,  it  will  be  the  plain  glass.  It  is  al- 
ways better  in  printing  from  negatives  as  large  as  8  x  10,  or  larger, 
to  have  an  extra  glass  in  the  board. 

The  dusting  of  the  negative,  to  remove  any  dust  that  may  have 
settled  on  it,  should  be  accomplished  by  a  wide,  soft  blender  of 
camel's  hair.  To  dust  the  negative,  never  lay  the  flat  side  of  the 


FILLING   OF   THE   BOARDS.  59 

brush  horizontally  to  the  negative  and  then  draw  it  along,  for  a 
great  proportion  of  the  dust  will  stick  to  the  negative ;  but  the  brush 
should  be  held  perpendicular  to  it,  and  the  tips  of  the  hair  used 
briskly. 

Dust  the  negative  two  or  three  times,  and  immediately  after  dust- 
ing place  your  paper  on  it  before  the  dust  settles  again. 

In  placing  the  paper  on,  many  printers  spoil  their  prints  by  not 
placing  it  up  high  enough  on  the  negative,  and  then  again  by  plac- 
ing it  too  high. 

Paper  with  metal  and  albumen  spots  on  it  can  be  very  often  saved 
when  the  albumen  spots  are  not  too  large,  by  placing  that  part  of 
the  paper  containing  the  spots  on  the  deepest  shadow  parts  of  the 
negatives. 

In  placing  paper  on  vignette  negatives,  choose  the  very  best,  and 
never  place  paper  on  them  that  has  the  water-mark  on  it. 

In  printing  such  paper  on  any  other  negative,  always  have  the 
water-mark  on  the  darkest  side  of  the  background.  As  a  rule,  al- 
ways place  the  imperfections  of  the  paper — when  you  think  that  it 
can  be  saved — on  the  negative  so  that  they  will  come  in  all  cases 
either  in  the  hair,  draperies,  if  dark,  or  in  the  shadow  parts  of  the 
negatives. 

After  placing  the  paper  on  the  negatives,  a  cloth  or  two  should  be 
placed  in.  The  reason  why  the  cloths  should  be  placed  next  to  the 
paper  is  because  better  contact  is  secured  thereby  between  the 
negative  and  paper.  These  cloths  or  pads  should  consist  of  white 
cotton  flannel,  imnapped  side  out,  i.  e.,  next  to  the  paper,  as  the 
other  side  often  causes  imperfect  contact  between  the  negative  arid 
paper. 

They  are  sometimes  glued  to  the  back  of  the  boards  (i.  e.,  the 
backboards),  and  then  they  do  not  need  more  than  a  single  pad 
in  the  frame.  When  there  is  another  glass  in  the  frame,  do  not  use 
more  than  one  pad,  as  the  pressure  of  the  backboard  will  be  too 
strong  for  safety  to  the  glass.  Instead  of  cloth  pads,  thick  blotting- 
paper  may  be  placed  next  to  the  sensitive  paper,  and  the  cloths  next 
to  them. 

There  has,  within  two  or  three  years,  a  novelty  appeared  of  fum- 
ing these  pads  very  strongly  and  placing  them  on  the  negatives,  and 
thus  fume  the  paper  while  printing.  It  is  said  by  some  to  be  very 
beneficial  to  the  paper. 

When  fuming-pads  are  to  be  used,  they  should  be  fumed  all  night 
in  a  perfectly  air-tight  fuming-box,  and  then  after  they  are  used 
once,  they  should  be  placed  back  again  and  kept  there  while  the 
fresh  pads,  which  are  removed  from  the  box,  are  used.  On  placing 


60  THE   PRACTICA  L^  PRINTER. 

the  pads  on  the  paper,  look  to  see  whether  there  is  any  dirt  on  them, 
and  whether  there  is  anything  on  them  that  will  spoil  the  paper. 

If  there  are  any  tacks  on  the  bench  where  the  pads  are  laid  down, 
they  are  apt  to  stick  to  the  cloth,  and  if  they  are  not  examined 
closely  and  shaken  before  they  are  placed  on  the  back  of  the  paper, 
they  will  eventually  break  the  negatives.  In  laying  the  backboards, 
with  cloths  glued  to  them,  down  on  the  bench,  never  lay  the  cloth 
side  down,  but  always  up. 

After  printing  the  first  print,  look  closely  at  it,  to  see  whether 
there  is  perfect  contact  in  all  parts  of  it. 

In  adjusting  the  pressure,  always  have  it  as  gentle  and  even  as 
possible,  as  strong  and  uneven  pressure  endangers  the  negative. 
Clean  the  back  of  the  negative  with  a  woollen  rag,  wet  with  a  little 
common  alcohol,  before  placing  it  out  to  print. 


CHAPTER-  XII. 

FITTING  VIGNETTE-BOARDS  TO  THE  NEGATIVES 
FOB  PRINTING. 

IN  fitting  vignette-boards  to  the  negatives  for  printing,  there  are 
several  things  to  be  thought  of  and  taken  into  consideration.  ^ 

Due  regard  should  be  given  to  the  background,  for  generally  one 
side  of  it  is  darker  than  the  other,  especially  when  the  lighting  is 
after  the  so-called  Rembrandt,  for  then  it  is  generally  the  custom  to 
have  the  background  on  the  lighted  side  of  the  face  darker  than  that 
on  the  other  side,  and  vice  versa,  so  as  to  give  boldness  and  vigor 
to  the  prints  from  such  negatives. 

When  the  background  is  as  described,  the  vignette-board  should 
not  be  placed  so  far  on  that  side  of  the  figure  that  has  the  darkest 
side  of  the  background,  because  the  vignette  on  the  print  will  not  be 
even,  but  one-sided.  The  vignetter  should  either  be  placed  more 
over  towards  the  other  side,  or  if  you  do  not  wish  to  print  so  far 
on  that  side  (the  lightest),  then  you  can  paste  a  piece  of  dark 
paper  on  the  vignette-board,  in  such  a  way  as  to  cover  up  a  great 
part  of  the  dark  side,  and  then  upon  printing  it  face  to  the  sunlight, 
the  prints  from  such  negatives  will  be  much  better,  being  more 
evenly  vignetted.  Oftentimes  it  will  not  in  every  particular  answer 
to  paste  this  paper  OVL  all  of  that  side,  because  it  may  make  the 
•drapery  prkat  badly. 


•  i 


FITTING   VIGNETTE-BOARDS   TO   THE   NEGATIVES.        61 

When,  in  lighting  his  subject  for  the  shadow  effect,  the  operator 
allows  the  light  and  shade  to  act  strongly  on  the  drapery  as  well  as 
the  face,  then  the  former  will  print  light  on  the  side  where  the 
background  prints  dark,  and  when  we  place 
paper  on  the  dark  side  of  the  background  to  FlG- 24- 

prevent  it  from  haloing  out  too  far,  we  thus 
in  a  measure,  if  not  careful,  prevent  this  al- 
ready light  side  from  printing  as  much  as  it 
ought. 

To  remedy  this,  it  is  often  necessary  to  cut 
out  still  further  the  vignette-board  where  the 

/draperies  are,  in  such  a  way  .as  to  permit  all  to  print  nicely  on  that 
side,  without  permitting  the  background  to  print  out  too  far.  Thus 
the  outside  of  a  vignette-board  will  often  have  a  very  bad  appearance 
as  regards  the  shape,  sometimes  having  the  shape  shown  in  Fig.  24. 

Upon  looking  through  such  a  vignette-board  on  to  the  negative 
within,  it  would  appear  at  first  glance  as  though  the  vignette-board 
was  tacked  very  carelessly  on  to  the  printing-frame,  and  not  until 
we  examine  the  negative  by  holding  it  up  and  looking  at  it,  will  we 
discover  our  mistake.  In  changing  the  shape  of  the  vignette-board, 
it  will  be  found  to  be  a  difficult  thing  to  do  if  it  should  be  found  to 
be  made  of  wood. 

Partly  for  this  reason,  and  partly  because  many  negatives  require 
a  little  different  vignetter,  I  have  always  used  common  and  average 
thick  pasteboard  for  vignetting  the  common  card  and  Imperial  nega- 
tives. 

For  larger  negatives,  however,  I  use  wooden  vignette-blocks,  and 
if  there  is  anything  needed  to  be  done  as  described  above,  I  make 
the  print  in  the  usual  way,  and  before  removing  it  from  the  frame, 
move  the  block  in  the  direction  needed,  and  shading  the  rest  of  the 
figure  with  a  cloth,  print  it  as  required.  As  there  are  hardly  ever 
more  than  two  or  three  vignette  prints  to  be  printed  from  such  large 
negatives,  I  prefer  to  do  so,  being  less  troublesome  than  to  change 
the  wooden  block,  and  thus  ruining  them  for  future  use ;  but  for 
card  and  Imperial  negatives,  when  there  are  often  dozens  to  be 
printed,  I  like  to  have  a  vignette-board  expressly  adapted  for  that 
particular  case,  and  then  I  can  print  right  along,  and  finish  the 
order  without  any  more  trouble,  after  having  obtained  the  first  sat- 
isfactory print. 

Another  advantage  in  using  average  thick  pasteboard  is  because 
greater  softness  is  imparted  thereby  to  the  halo  of  the  vignette,  if 
the  pasteboard  is  raised  to  a  proper  distance  from  the  negative. 

The  great  disadvantage  of  many  of  the  wooden  vignette-blocks  is 


62  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

simply  this  :  The  opening  of  the  under  part  of  the  blocks  is  not  bevelled 
out  far  enough  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  soft  halos  to  the  prints. 

When  we  fasten  such  a  vignette-block  on  to  a  printing-frame  for 
vignetting,  the  under  part  of  the  block  rests  on  the  negative,  and 
when  the  opening  of  the  block  is  not  bevelled  out  far  enough,  the 
diffused  light  will  cause  a  too  abrupt  edge  to  the  halo.  This  is  the 
reason  why  soft  halos  are  so  hard  to  obtain  with  wooden  vignette- 
blocks,  and  there  are  some  printers  who  cannot  obtain  them,  try  as 
hard  as  they  will. 

On  their  informing  you  that  they  never  could  obtain  soft  halos, 
if  you  were  to  ask  the  question,  "  What  do  you  use  in  vignetting?" 
their  reply  in  most  cases  would  be,  "  Oh!  I  have  had  some  nice  vign- 
ette-blocks made  for  me,  but  I  cannot  obtain  soft  halos,  even  if  1 
place  TWO  tissue-papers  over  the  vignette." 

When  the  block  is  not  bevelled  out  far  enough,  the  diffused  light 
entering  will  cause  the  sharp  edge  to  print  just  where  the  block  touches 
the  negative. 

This  can  be  prevented  by  bevelling  the  block  out  further,  and  also 
softer.  The  light,  as  it  enters  through  the  tissued  aperture,  will  dif- 
fuse out  almost  exactly  as  far  as  you  are  able  to  see  under  the  block 
by  applying  your  eye  close  to  the  vignette-block  and  looking  under. 
If,  while  looking,  you  see  the  edge  of  the  bevelling  of  the  block  touch 
the  negative,  you  can  depend  upon  not  obtaining  soft  halos  until  you 
remedy  the  defect  in  the  blocks. 

When  you  have  new  vignette-blocks  made,  test  with  your  eye  as 
above. 

But  softness  to  a  halo  cannot  be  obtained  so  nicely  with  a  block 
placed  upon  the  negative,  as  described  above,  as  it  can  by  the  use 
of  some  common  cardboard  with  an  aperture  suitable  to  the  size  of 
the  negative. 

In  this  case  there  is  not  anything  to  stop  the  diffusing  of  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  as  there  is  in  the  wooden  vignette-block,  but  the  light 
diffuses  out  nicely  and  softly,  the  softness  depending  upon  the  dis- 
tance of  the  cardboard  from  the  negative. 

A  few  words  about  the  distance  of  these  vignette-boards  from  the 
negative : 

Never  place  the  cardboard  nearer  than  a  third  of  an  inch  from  the 
negative,  unless  in  case  of  some  faulty  place  that  is  to  be  avoided  in 
vignetting  the  negative. 

If  the  figure  is  to  be  illuminated,  so  as  to  get  rid  of  a  defect  in  the 
background,  then  it  is  best  to  make  a  light  proof  of  the  negative, 
and  cut  close  in  and  around  the  figure,  being  careful  not  to  cut  in 
too  close  to  the  neck,  so  as  to  give  an  ugly  look  to  the  vignette,  which 


FITTING   VIGNETTE-BOARDS   TO   THE   NEGATIVES.        63 

will  always  look  like  the  cut-out,  although,  perhaps,  it  may  have 
a  softer  outline  (Fig.  25).     Place  the 
outside  of  the  pieces  cut  on  to  a  suit-  FlG- 25-' 

ably  sized  piece  of  cardboard,  and  cut 
out  the  piece  B,  which  is  cast  away. 
Place  the  piece  A  over  the  background 
of  the  negative,  about  hall  an  inch 
from  it,  on  to  the  raised  outside  of  the 
printing-frame,  and  after  adjusting  it 
properly,  then  tack  it  in  its  place. 
Paste  a  piece  of  tissue-paper  C  (French 
copying-paper  is  the  best  for  printing 

purposes,  being  entirely  free  of  the  minute  holes  which  are  so  char- 
acteristic with  the  English  tissue)  over  the  cardboard,  so  as  to  per- 
mit diffused  light  to  pass  through  the  aperture  when  you  place  it 
out  to  print  in  the  diffused  rays  of  the  sunlight.  If,  upon  exam- 
ining the  print,  the  halo  does  not  blend  out  soft  enough,  then  place 
the  cardboard  away  a  little  more  from  the  negative,  and  print  again. 
If  it  blends  out  too  far,  place  the  cardboard  a  little  nearer  to  the 
negative. 

The  manner  in  which  I  obtain  these  different  degrees  of  depths 
from  the  negative  to  the  cardboard  without  much  trouble  is,  if  the 
printing-boards  are  not  raised  in  the  making  of  them,  to  have  made 
and  ready  at  hand  in  case  of  need,  some  flat  pieces  of  basswood,  of 
different  thicknesses,  which  can  be  tacked  on  to  the  sides  of  the  frame 
when  needed,  and  the  cardboard  tacked  on  to  these.  Have  plenty 
of  these  pieces  close  at  hand,  and  in  tacking  them  on,  do  not  use 
more  than  a  couple  of  tacks  for  each  piece. 

If  you  wish  to  obtain  a  halo  to  a  vignette  that  will  commence 
close  to  the  head  to  blend  out,  and  extend  out  to  the  very  edges  of 
the  card,  both  in  the  background  and  drapery,  then  the  distance  of 
the  cardboard  from  the  negative  should  vary  from  a  half  to  a  full 
inch.  The  opening  of  the  cardboard  should  be  about  the  ordinary 
size  of  a  vignette  aperture. 

The  greater  the  distance  from  the  negative  to  the  vignetting  arrange- 
ment the  smaller  should  the  opening  of  the  vignette  be. 

Never  use  ground-glass  in  vignetting  when  you  desire  soft  halos ;  but 
tissue-paper  should  be  used,  and  a  good  quality  at  that. 

Always  be  sure  that  the  head  of  the  negative  is  balanced  by  hav- 
ing plenty  of  the  body  show.  In  your  mind's  eye  draw  a  line  from 
each  side  of  the  face  down  through  the  body.  The  shoulders  should 
always  show  from  a  third  to  a  half  of  the  length  of  the  face  beyond 
this  imaginary  line,  and  the  length  of  the  body  should  rarely  be  less 
than  one  and  a  quarter  times  the  length  of  the  head. 


64 


THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


There  are  many  things  sometimes  to  prevent  having  the  above- 
named  proportion  to  the  vignette,  but  always  have  it  if  possible. 

The  "Waymouth  Vignette  Papers  are  undoubtedly  superior  to 
anything  that  has  ever  been  devised  for  the  purpose,  and  any  fail- 
ures in  using  them  have  no  doubt  arisen  from  the  want  of  proper 
care  and  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  printer,  rather  than  any  fault 
in  the  papers,  or  the  idea  on  which  they  are  gotten  up.  Of  course 
all  negatives  cannot  be  treated  the  same  in  this  respect,  any  more 
than  all  can  be  printed  equally  well  on  one  sample  of  silvered  paper. 
A  negative  with  a  light  background  may  print  well  with  the  vign- 
ette paper  placed  in  contact  with  the  glass,  while  one  that  prints 
a  dark  ground  would  require  the  paper  to  be  separated  from  the 
glass  a  sufficient  distance  to  prevent  its  printing  a  hard  or  abrupt 
edge  to  the  vignette. 

A  little  consideration  in  adapting  these  papers  to  the  quality  of 
the  negative  will  soon  enable  any  one  to  use  them  successfully,  and  I 
believe  with  more  uniformly  good  results  than  with  any  other  method 
of  vignetting  that  has  ever  been  practiced. 

They  are  adapted  to  all  sizes  up  to  8  x  10,  and  their  cost  is  less 


FIG.  26  A. 


FIG, 26  B. 


than  any  other  method  that  will  do  the  work  as  well.  They  are 
made  both  "pear"  shaped  and  oval,  as  shown  in  Figs.  26  A  and 
26  B,  and  of  yellow  and  red  bronze  color,  and  of  black,  to  suit  the 


MEDALLION   AND    ARCH-TOP   PRINTING.  65 

« 

varying  intensities  of  negatives.     They  are  very  tastefully  and  skil- 
fully gotten  up  by  the  manufacturers. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  I  will  attempt  to  state  what  the  beauty 
of  a  vignette  consists  in.     Sometimes 
vignettes  are  meant  to  supply  the  place  FIG.  27. 

of  shadow — as  when  in  photographing 
crosses — then  we  vignette  in  such  a  way 
as  to  have  a  shadow  on  one  side  of  it. 
(See  Fig.  27.) 

The  beauty  of  such  a  vignette  consists 
in  the  artistically  printed  shadow,  and 
when  we  examine  such  a  print,  i^e  expe- 
rience considerable  pleasure  in  seeing  the 
soft  shadow  caused  by  the  cross,  whereas 
if  it  were  not  there,  or  the  shadow  were 
.on  both  sides,  it  would  create  anything 
but  pleasure. 

Then  again,  the  beauty  of  vignettes  in  ordinary  portraits  is  the 
soft  blending  from  quite  dark,  in  the  drapery  and  close  to  the  figure 
in  the  background,  to  a  very  soft  and  almost  indistinguishable  edge 
on  the  outer  part  of  the  carte  de  visite,  for  which,  and  the  Imperial 
this  style  of  vignetting  only  is  advisable. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
MEDALLION  AND  ARCH-TOP  PRINTING. 

THESE  are  very  popular  styles  for  printing  from  the  negative, 
both  on  account  of  their  beauty  and  because  by  their  use  the  pho- 
tographic printers  are  enabled  to  prevent  defects  in  the  negatives 
from  printing. 

These  are  advantages  which  we  sometimes  have,  and  for  which 
they  are  peculiarly  adapted. 

For  instance,  a  negative  with  a  Hack  velvet  background  is  broken 
along  the  upper  part  of  it  in  one  place,  and  in  another  part  of  the 
plate  it  dried  before  exposing. 

These  defects  are  in  such  a  part  of  the  negative,  that  a  proof 
printed  from  it  plain  cannot  be  trimmed  unless  these  defects  show, 
so  much  as  to  spoil  the  otherwise  fine  print.  Such  a  negative  then 


66  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

* 

cannot  be  printed  plain,  and  since  vignetting  it  is  not  a  very  easy 
thing  to  do,  on  account  of  the  very  black  background,  we  can  most 
advantageously  print  it  in  either  the  medallion  or  the  arch-top  style. 

Besides  the  above,  there  are  hundreds  of  cases  in  which  the  use 
of  the  medallion  and  arch-top  are  indispensable. 

To  some  the  making  and  use  of  the  medallion  and  arch-top 
are  a  source  of  continued  trouble  and  vexation,  and  the  successful 
photographer  is  very  often  hearing  complaints  from  his  less  skilled 
brother  photographer  of  his  inability  to  make  and  use  them  satis- 
factorily. The  reason  of  this  is  because  he  is  careless  as  to  what  he 
uses  in  making  or  cutting  them  out,  and  not  using  them  rightly 
after  they  are  made.  « 

Mr.  John  L.  Gihon,  a  well-known  photographer,  knowing  the  dif- 
ficulty which  many  have  experienced  in  the  making  and  use  of  the 
medallions,  has  made  for  the  trade  some  very  fine  medallions  and 
masks  or  cut-outs  of  different  sizes.  To  those  who  are  unable  to  make> 
them  for  themselves,  or  those  who  prefer  to  buy  rather  than  to  make 
them,  we  recommend  the  use  of  his,  believing  they  will  fully  meet 
the  expectations  of  the  purchaser. 

The  common  card  oval  ferrotype  mounts  are  very  often  used  by 
some  photographers  in  the  making  of  the  medallion  and  mask. 

Some  use  a  knife  and  cut  around  on  the  inside  of  the  mount,  but 
as  the  soft  cardboard  is  very  readily  made  nicky,  and  thus  gives  this 
nicky  appearance  to  the  cut-out,  this  way  of  making  them  is  not 
advisable.  It  is  better  to  buy  such  as  are  neatly  made,  like  Mr. 
Gihon's. 

In  the  place  of  using  a  knife  and  cutting  around  on  the  inside  of 
the  mount,  some  place  this  mount  011  a  piece  of  sensitive  plain 
paper  and  print  the  inside  of  it  quite  dark,  thus  leaving  the  un- 
exposed  part  of  the  paper  white. 

After  cutting  a  little  on  the  circumference  of  the  dark  inside  with 
a  sharp  knife,  the  rest  of  the  mask  is  carefully  cut  from  the  medal- 
lion with  a  pair  of  shears,  the  point  of  which  is  pressed  through 
the  aperture  made  by  the  knife.  The  cutting  of  the  medallion  and 
mask  in  this  manner  requires  a  very  steady  hand  to  have  the  result 
of  your  labor  worth  using. 

In  making  the  medallion,  or*  arch-top,  I  have  always  used  orass 
mats  of  different  sizes.  These  mats  or  guides  are  perfectly  even 
and  true,  and  are  made  of  metal,  so  as  to  permit  the  knife  being 
used  around  the  inside,  without  anjr  material  damage  to  it,  if  only 
ordinary  care  is  exercised  in  its  use.  The  "cut-outs"  are  made  of 
different  sizes. 

The  regular  size  for  ordinary  card  work,  when  the  head  is  not  the 


MEDALLION   AND    ARCH-TOP   PRINTING.  67 

so-called  "Berlin,"  should  be  2x2f  inches  oval.     A  size  smaller 
is  used  when  we  do  not  wish  to  show  as  much  as  in  the  other  ;  size, 


A  size  very  much  used  for  small  heads  is  1T35  xlf. 

One  of  the  most  convenient  of  all  of  the  different  sizes  is  f  x  1£. 
It  is  most  excellent  for  the  purpose  of  printing  negatives  of  babies, 
taken  sitting  in  their  mothers'  lap. 

A  carte  arch-top,  size  about  I|x2|  inches,  is  about  the  only  size 
or  style  arch-top  that  is  used  for  the  carte  de  visite,  and  for  other 
sizes  your  taste  will  dictate,  such  as  the  Victoria  or  the  Imperial. 

Common  yellow  envelope-paper  is  best  to  make  these  medallion 
and  arch-top  cut-outs  of,  as  this  paper  utterly  excludes  all  light  that 
will  discolor  the  sensitive  paper.  If  you  prefer  to  use  sensitive 
paper  that  is  not  fit  for  printing  purposes  always  use  the  plain  and 
not  the  albumen  paper,  because  the  latter  will  curl  up  considerably, 
so  much  so  as  to  make  it  very  troublesome  to  handle. 

When  you  have  selected  your  paper,  and  have  laid  it  on  a  glass, 
then  place  your  brass  mats  on  the  paper,  and  with  a  sharp  knife  cut 
a  quick,  clean,  and  even  cut  around  the  opening  on  the  inside,  leaving 
sufficient  paper  on  all  sides  of  the  mats  for  the  purpose  of  masking 
the  sensitive  paper  in  printing  the  different  sizes,  such  as  the  carte 
de  visite,  Victoria,  Imperial,  or  larger  sizes,  as  the  case  may  be. 

In  cutting  the  last  part  of  the  medallion  or  arch-top  considerable 
care  should  be  given  to  see  that  the  knife  enters  in  at  exactly  the 
place  where  yow  first  commenced  to  cut,  because  often  at  this  part 
of  the  cutting  there  is  apt  to  be  a  nick  in  the  cut-out,  if  it  is  not  care- 
fully guarded  against. 

The  cutting  out  of  these  medallions  and  arch-tops  may  probably 
be  very  difficult  at  the  first  few  attempts  of  the  beginner,  but  if  he 
perseveres  he  will  find  that  a  little  practice  will  soon  enable  him  to 
do  it  successfully. 

Every  mask  or  inside  will  Jit  its  own  medallion  or  outside  (i.  e.,  the 
one  that  it  was  cut  out  of)  better  than  it  will  any  other  one,  and  if  the 
printer  will  remember  this  I  do  not  think  he  will  ever  meet  with  any- 
thing but  good  results. 

When  the  cut-outs  are  cut,  and  before  they  are  moved,  they  should 
be  marked  in  such  a  way  that  the  printer  can  find  the  mask  that 
was  cut  out  of  any  particular  medallion  at  will,  for  this  is  absolutely 
necessary  if  he  wishes  to  obtain  beautifully  shaded  lines  on  his 
prints. 

The  way  I  always  do  this  is  to  mark  on  one  end  of  the  medallion 
H,  which  means  the  head  of  it,  and  directly  under  it  some  name  by 
means  of  which  I  can  easily  tell  it  from  the  others  of  the  same  size. 


68  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

On  the  same  end  of  the  mask,  and  on  the  same  side  of  the  paper, 
we  also  mark  H,  and  directly  under  this  the  name  which  was  written 
on  the  outside  from  which  the  mask  was  cut. 

To  explain  more  understandingly  what  I  mean,  let  us  suppose 
that  we  have  finished  cutting  a  medallion  and  mask  and  that  they 
lay  before  us  just  as  cut. 

Now,  on  the  upper  part  of  the  outside  we  will  mark  H,  and 
directly  under  it,  and  also  on  the  outside,  "Heathen  Chinee." 

Now,  also,  on  the  upper  part  of  the  mask  we  mark  H,  and  under 
this  "Heathen  Chinee." 

I  will  remark  here  that  it  is  very  essential  to  have  the  marks  on 
the  same  side  of  the  paper,  and  also  at  the  top  of  each.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  will  readily  be  seen  further  on,  when  the  crescent  line 
is  to  be  shaded  on  the  print. 

I  spoke  above  about  care  being  exercised  in  making  cut-outs  ;  that 
the  knife  enters  in  at  exactly  the  place  where  you  first  commenced 
to  cut,  because  often  at  this  part  of  the  cutting  there  is  apt  to  be  a 
nick  in  the  cut-out  if  you  are  not  careful  to  avoid  it. 

In  laying  the  outside  on  the  negative  to  print  from,  always  lay  the 
side  marked  Hup  and  close  to  the  negative,  leaving  the  unmarked  side 
of  the  paper  for  the  sensitive  paper  to  come  in  contact  with. 

In  laying  them  on  considerable  care  and  judgment  should  be  exer- 
cised, so  as  to  give  a  proper  balance  to  the  position  and  proportion 
to  the  print. 

The  principal  faults  that  occur  in  laying  these  medallions  and  arch- 
tops  on  the  negative  for  printing  are : 

1st.  The  head  is  apt  to  be  too  high  up,  or  too  low  down,  in  the 
medallion  or  arch-top. 

2d.  The  body  looks  as  though  it  was  either  falling  backwards,  for- 
wards, or  sideways. 

The  nose  or  the  mouth,  as  a  general  thing,  should  be  in  the  centre 
of  the  opening,  although  this  is,  of  course,  open  to  exceptions. 

To  avoid  the  necessity  of  having  to  place  the  medallion  on  the 
negative  for  every  print,  I  stick  the  corners  on  the  negative  by  means 
of  a  very  little  of  a  thin  solution  of  gum-water.  I  use  it  thin  so  that 
it  will  readily  come  oif  when  you  wish  it,  but  will  adhere  to  the 
negative  without  any  trouble  or  danger  of  slipping  while  the  boards 
are  being  filled.  In  case  it  does  not  come  oif,  dampen  the  place  a 
little  with  your  tongue. 

In  sticking  the  medallion  on  to  the  negative,  only  stick  it  by  the 
extreme  tips  of  the  two  upper  corners. 

-Now,  a  print  having  been  printed  in  the  medallion,  which  we  will 


MEDALLION   AND   ARCH-TOP   PRINTING.  69 

suppose  to  have  been  the  Heathen  Chinee,  we  will  proceed  to  shade 
the  crescent  line  on  it. 

Take  a  nice  piece  of  glass  of  suitable  size,  care  being  taken  that  it 
has  no  bad  bubbles  in  it,  and  lay  the  marked  side  of  the  mask  on  it, 
after  having  previously  wet  the  centre  of  it  with  a  little  gum.  The 
drying  should  not  be  hurried  up  over  a  flame  unless  the  paper  with 
the  glass  is  under  pressure  in  the  printing-frame,  because  it  is  not  apt 
to  dry  smoothly  unless  it  is  done  in  that  manner. 

The  air-bubbles  between  the  surface  of  the  paper  and  that  of  the 
glass  should  be  rubbed  away  with  the  finger  before  drying.  In  lay- 
ing the  gum-water  on  the  paper  do  not  touch  a  place  larger  than 
the  nail  of  a  little  finger. 

When  the  gum  on  the  paper  is  dry  the  glass  should  be  cleaned  on 
both  sides,  and  then  laid  on  the  print  that  is  to  have  the  line  shaded 
on  it,  the  whole  of  which  is  then  to  be  laid  on  a  flat  printing-board. 
(See  page  70.) 

There  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to  which  side  of  the 
print  the  line  is  to  be  shaded,  but  the  majority  of  photographers 
agree  that  it  ought  to  be  on  the  side  of  the  darkest  part  of  the  face, 
so  as  to  give  brilliancy  and  vigor  to  the  print  on  account  of  the  con- 
trast. 

The  size  of  this  line  varies  according  to  the  intended  size  of  the 
finished  print.  (See  Fig.  28. ) 

FIG.  28. 


Avoid  large  lines  on  cartes  de  visite  prints. 

On  large  prints,  such  as  11x14,  &c.,  a  proportionately  large  line 
is  wanted,  and  when  done  nicely  the  effect  is  really  beautiful.  The 
size  of  the  line  on  these  prints,  11  x  14,  should  not  be  more  than  one- 
fifth,  or  less  than  one-tenth  of  an  inch  wide  at  the  widest  part. 
For  14  x  18  the  size  should  vary  from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of  an 
inch  wide  at  the  widest  part.  For  Imperial  cards  the  size  of  the 


70  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

line  should  be  about  one-twentieth  of  an  inch ;  and  for  the  small 
cards  the  size  should  be  about  one-thirty-second  of  an  inch  wide. 

Having  determined  as  to  which  side  of  the  print  the  line  should 
be,  the  exact  place  on  the  side  is  governed  by  the  direction  the  light 
falls  on  the  face,  and  which  is  only  ascertained  by  the  studying  of  the 
negative  or  print. 

The  way  I  should  advise  the  beginner  to  shade  the  crescent  line  is 
as  follows : 

Lay  the  inside  or  mask  on  the  print  so  that  it  will  cover  exactly 
every  part  of  the  printed  picture,  leaving  only  the  white  outside  ex- 
posed, which,  if  you  were  to  imagine  the  medallion  or  arch-top  to 
be  laid  exactly  on  the  print  as  it  was  in  printing  it,  you  will  see  that 
the  mask  lies  exactly  in  its  own  medallion  or  arch-top  as  it  did  when 
it  was  cut,  and  consequently  a  splendid  and  true  line  can  be  ob- 
tained. In  laying  the  mask  on  the  print,  always  have  the  end 
marked  H  up  to  the  head  of  the  print,  since  the  end  marked  H  of 
the  outside  or  medallion  was  placed  at  the  head  part  of  the  negative 
in  printing  the  print. 

Always  bear  the  above  remark  in  mind,  and  considerable  annoy- 
ance in  printing  these  styles  of  prints  can  be  saved. 

Now,  as  you  have  the  mask  fitted  exactly  on  the  print,  try  in  one 
move  to  place  the  mask  over  in  the  direction  you  have  decided  upon 
having  the  crescent  line  appear. 

In  moving  this  over  there  will  be  a  dark  line  on  the  other  side  of 
the  print,  which  should,  in  all  cases,  be  exactly  as  large  as  the  intended 
white  line.  Bear  this  in  mind. 

The  reason  why  you  should  be  careful  and  have  the  mask  placed 
over  in  the  right  direction  in  one  move  is,  because  you  will  be  more 
apt  to  have  both  lines  alike,  which,  if  the  mask  lay  in  a  different  di- 
rection from  what  the  outside  did  in  the  printing,  the  result  will  not 
be  so  good.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  have  advised  the  beginner  to 
have  his  mask  fit  the  print  before  he  moves  it  to  shade  the  line,  and  also 
to  move  it  in  one  move,  as  this  will  give  the  desired  result  without  fail. 

The  required  shade  in  printing  the  border  of  the  print  is  ascer- 
tained by  looking  at  the  background,  and  then  permitting  it  to 
darken  as  near  half  way  between  white  and  the  tone  of  the  background 
as  you  can  judge.  Many  photographers  prefer  to  have  it  tinted  very 
slightly. 

If  the  background  is  very  light,  then  print  the  outside  black. 

In  shading  the  print  never  let  the  background  and  the  border  be  of  the 
same  shade,  for  it  will  make  the  print  appear  flat  and  feeble.  Fail- 
ures in  this  direction  are  as  common  in  medallion  printing  as  bad 


FANCY   FEINTING.  71 

and  irregular  lines,  and  a  printer  who  does  not  take  care  to  prevent 
the  one,  rarely  does  the  other,  for  they  generally  go  together. 

I  do  not  give  the  above  as  anything  entirely  new,  but  judging  from 
the  very  bad>  irregularly-shaded  medallions  and  arch-tops  that  are 
too  often  seen,  I  think  it  could  be  adopted  by  many  with  profit. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

FANCY  FEINTING. 

/ 

FANCY  MEDALLION  AND  ARCH-TOP  PRINTING. 

THIS  fancy  printing  is  sometimes  very  beautiful  when  the  designs 
for  making  them  are  neat  and  pretty. 

In  selecting  designs  for  this  work  be  guided  by  good  taste,  and 
do  not  strive  after  complicated  and  glaring  designs  when  the  simple 
and  delicate  ones  are  always  the  object  of  the  tasteful  printer. 

There  are  very  few  designs  for  this  fancy  printing  more  beautiful 
than  that  of  the  fine  parallel  lines  that  we  are  so  familiar  with  in, 
the  French  writing-paper.  Besides  the  parallel  lines,  a  few  others 
of  a  delicate  design  are  used  very  appropriately.  Always  have  the 
size  of  the  intended  prints  and  the  fancy  design  in  harmony  with 
each  other,  i.  e.,  the  larger  the  size  of  the  print  the  larger  should  the 
design  be,  and  vice  versa.  It  would  be  ridiculous  to  have  large  de- 
signs intended  for  an  8  x  10  size  photograph  used  on  the  common  card, 
as  well  as  it  would  be  to  have  small  designs  on  large  prints. 

I  have  seen  a  few  frame  photographs  printed  in  the  fancy  arch-top 
and  medallion  style  that  I  liked  very  much,  because  the  design  for 
this  fancy  work  was  so  very  appropriate  for  the  size  of  the  print. 

Generally  speaking,  however,  these  designs  are  intended  simply  for 
the  carte  de  visite  and  the  Imperial ;  sometimes,  too,  for  the  Victoria 
when  that  style  print  is  made,  but  they  are  very  seldom  used  for 
anything  larger. 

The  making  and  use  of  these  medallions  and  arch-tops  intended 
for  this  style  of  printing  are  exactly  the  same  as  was  described  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  with  the  exception  of  the  placing  of  the  paper, 
with  the  design  upon  it,  upon  the  print,  and  then  shading  the  line 
upon  the  print  by  means  of  the  inside  mask,  as  usual. 

There  is  also  another  way,  which  will  be  described  further  on. 


72  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  paper  suitable  for  this  work  is  known  as  the  French  writing- 
paper,  the  thinnest  of  which  should  be  obtained.     Figs.  29  and  30 


FIG.  29.  '  FIG.  30. 


represent  some  of  the  designs.  A  sheet  of  two  or  three  diiferent 
kinds  will  answer  very  well  for  a  beginning. 

Cut  the  sheets  up  to  the  proper  size,  and  after  placing  your  print 
upon  a  flat  printing-board,  put  one  of  these  different  kinds  of  designed 
paper  over  the  whole  print,  which  will  be  almost  entirely  covered. 
Now  take  the  proper  mask  and  proceed  to  make  the  crescent  line  on 
the  print.  This  is  rather  difficult  at  first,  owing  to  the  very  indis- 
tinct print  under  the  white  writing-paper,  which  thus  renders  the 
shading  of  the  line  rather  troublesome.  Ity  pressing  the  white  paper 
in  close  contact  with  the  print  underneath  in  laying  on  the  mask, 
and  going  to  a  part  of  your  printing-room  where  you  can  plainly 
see  your  work,  you  will  find  that  you  will  have  no  trouble  whatever. 

In  printing  this  outside  let  it  darken  to  the  same  shade  as  you  would 
in  making  plain  medallions  and  arch-top  prints  ;  and  what  I  said  in 
regard  to  plain  medallion-printing,  about  tinting  the  border  to  the 
«anae  shade  as  the  background  of  the  print,  is  also  applicable  in  this 
.style  of  printing,  the  result  being  equally  as  bad,  with  the  exception, 
perhaps,  in  this  ease,  that  there  will  be  a  kind  of  a  fancy  flatness  to 
the  prints,  instead  of  a  plain  one. 

Besides  the  above,  there  is  also  another  way  to  print  these  which 
is,  perhaps,  easier,  because  the  French  paper  can  be  dispensed  with, 
as  the  glass  to  which  the  mask  is  stuck  answers  the  place  of  the 
paper. 

A  very  thin  negative  indeed  is  made  of,  say  some  moss,  and  devel- 
oped, fixed,  washed  and  varnished  as  is  usual  in  negative  making. 

The  masks  are  attached  to  the  face  of  the  negative,  but  it  would  be 
better  if  they  were  not  stuck  at  all,  for  the  negative  will,  in  a  short 
time,  be  ruined  by  so  doing,  and  after  adjusting  the  mask  the  whole 
is  then  placed  out  to  print  as  in  ordinary  plain  medallion-printing. 
The  negative  being  very  thin,  the  border  will  darken  very  rapidly, 
.as  quick,  if  not  quicker,  than  when  French  paper  is  used. 


FANCY   PRINTING.  73 


PRINTING  IN  GRAY. 

This  term  is  generally  applied  to  photographs  which  have  been, 
or  are  to  be  printed  first  in  the  vignette  style,  and  then  the  surround- 
ing white  border  has  been,  or  is  to  be,  printed  or  tinted  a  little.  The 
whole  appearance  of  the  mounted  print  is  very  often  quite  pleasing, 
the  darker  draperies,  &c.,  of  the  print  being  of  a  rich  warm  tone, 
while  the  slightly  tinted  border  will  be  of  a  "gray  "-ish  tone.  When 
skilfully  done,  this  "printing  in  gray"  is  a  good  thing,  and  serves 
to  give  variety  to  the  printer's  results  instead  of  the  monotonous  ap- 
pearance they  have  in  some  galleries. 

In  the  first  place,  in  the  vignetting  of  the  negatives  that  are  to 
be  printed  in  this  style,  do  not  show  too  far  down  in  the  draperies, 
although  considerable  halo  may  be  shown  around  the  head. 

The  reason  why  the  draperies  should  not  be  printed  too  far  down 
is,  because  in  tinting  the  border  the  action  of  the  light  on  the  white 
sensitive  paper  develops  the  print  in  a  measure  where,  in  the  first 
place,  nothing  of  the  draperies  were  visible.  Bear  this  in  mind. 

While  the  tinting  of  the  border  of  the  vignette  print  is  carried  on, 
the  lights  of  the  print  would  be  very  much  discolored  if  they  were 
not  protected  from  the  white  light,  and  consequently  a  cut-out  or 
mask  is  made,  which  answers  the  purpose  admirably.  To  make 
this  mask,  cut  a  piece  of  spoiled  sensitive  paper  a  very  little  smaller 
than  the  figure,  as  regards  the  hair,  dark  draperies,  &c.,  but  not  a 
particle  smaller  in  regard  to  the  face.  Do  not  cut  too  far  down  in 
the  draperies,  or  in  tinting  the  print  will  be  spoiled. 

The  print  to  be  tinted,  having  been  removed  from  the  vignette- 
board,  is  then  placed  in  a  flat  printing-frame,  in  which  a  clean  glass 
has  been  previously  placed.  Another  glass  of  a  larger  size  is  then 
obtained,  to  the  under  surface  of  which  is  attached  this  cut-out,  and 
then,  placing  the  glass  so  that  the  cut-out  on  it  will  cover  the  figure 
in  the  print,  we  commence  to  tint  the  border  of  the  print,  keeping, 
in  the  meantime,  the  glass  constantly  on  the  move.  It  will  take 
about  five  to  ten  seconds  to  tint  all  that  is  required. 

In  moving  the  cut-out  during  the  tinting  of  the  border,  be  sure 
that  no  part  of  the  face  is  so  exposed  to  the  light  as  to  discolor  it. 

Always  be  careful  not  to  tint  the  border  so  much  as  to  occasion 
flatness.  A  very  little  tinting  is  all  that  is  required. 

Cotton  is  generally  used  by  experienced  printers  in  place  of  cut- 
outs, but  I  should  not  advise  the  beginner  to  attempt  it  until  he  has 
had  several  months'  experience  in  printing. 


74  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


CHAPTER   XY. 

•« 

VIGNETTE  CAMEO  AND  MEDALLION  VIGNETTE 
CAMEO  FEINTING. 

To  print  these  beautiful  styles  a  negative  should  be  made  expressly 
for  them,  having  an  ordinary  size  figure,  somewhat  smaller  than  the 
"  Berlin  head." 

To  print  in  cameo,  the  same  idea  holds  good  as  in  printing  medal- 
lions, &c.,  i.  e.,  to  show  sufficient  of  the  body  to  balance  the  head, 
but  very  little  more. 

A  ring  made  as  described  below,  and  called  a  "cameo  ring," 
should  be  stuck  to  the  negative  that  is  to  be  vignetted  by  the  ex- 
treme corners,  as  if  you  were  to  print  it  in  the  ordinary  medallion 
style,  and  after  placing  the  sensitive  paper  on  it,  the  negative  is  then 
ready  to  be  vignetted. 

In  choosing  the  vignette-block,  or  in  making  the  cardboard  vign- 
etter  for  it,  bear  in  mind  that  a  much  smaller  one  is  needed  than  if  it 
were  to  be  printed  in  the  ordinary  vignette,  and  consequently  pick 
out  such  a  one  as  will  show  enough  of  the  body  to  balance  the 
head,  and  no  more,  although  we  might,  if  we  were  not  printing  this 
style,  choose  a  block  that  would  blend  the  print  out  to  the  very 
edges. 

The  reason  why  this  should  be  heeded  is,  because  the  finished 
vignette  print,  when  pressed  by  the  cameo  press,  ought  not  to  have 
any  of  the  halo  show  beyond  the  pressed-out  surface,  if  you  wish  a 
very  fine  effect  as  is  then  the  case,  and  the  ring  being  placed  on  the 
negative,  prevents  the  halo  from  printing  out  further  than  where 
the  ring  is  placed,  and  since  this  ring  is  made  from  the  cameo  press 
itself,  it  will,  of  course,  when  carefully  pressed  by  it,  give  us  the  ef- 
fect we  wished,  viz.,  all  of  the  printed  paper  is  pressed  forward 
while  the  white  border  retires.  It  is  almost  needless  to  state  that 
the  halo  should  blend  out  quite  softly,  both  in  the  draperies  and 
elsewhere,  so  that  there  will  not  be  a  harsh  appearance  in  the  print, 
on  account  of  its  being  stopped  abruptly,  hence  the  need  of  a  small 
but  deep  printing-board  and  a  piece  or  two  of  tissue-paper  (accord- 
ing to  its  quality)  for  blending  it. 

In  making  the  medallion  vignette  cameo,  proceed  as  above,  with 


VIGNETTE   CAMEO   PRINTING. 


75 


FIG.  31. 


the  exception  in  the  above  case,  that  whereas  the  print  is  finished  as 

regards  to  the  printing  when  it  is  removed 

from  the  board,  in  this  case  there  is  to  be 

an  outside  or  border  printed  in,  which  may 

be  of  a  variety  of  shades,  as  circumstances 

may  permit.    In  making  the  cameo  ring, 

place  the  die  of  the  cameo  press  on  a  glass, 

with  the  paper  that  you  are  to  make  your 

cut-out  of  placed  under  it,  and  then  with  a 

sharp  knife  (Fig.  31)  cut  a  quick  and  clean 

cut  all  around  the  inside  of  the  guide.  (See  page  67.) 

In  using  the  cameo  ring,  proceed  as  if  you  were  printing  the  ordi- 
nary medallion,  and  in  shading  the  outside,  bear  in  mind  to  use  the 
right  mask  for  the  cut-out  used  in  printing  the  prints.  (See  Medal- 
lion and  Arch-top  Printing.) 

If  the  background  is  very  light  the  border  should  either  be  lighter 
or  darker,  but  never  of  the  same  shade. 

"When  the  prints  made  are  medallion  cameo  and  are  not  printed  in 
the  vignette,  then  the  background  is  darker  than  what  it  would  be 
if  vignetted,  and  consequently  the  border  can  be  printed  lighter  than 
the  background,  but  when,  as  is  very  often  the  case  in  printing  the 
prints  in  vignette,  the  background  is  very  light,  then  the  border  is 
generally  printed  until  it  bronzes,  so  as  to  give  a  decided  contrast ; 
this  produces  an  effect  quite  pleasing. 

A  new  (or  revived  old)  style,  more  especially  for  the  Imperial 
card,  but  can  be  used  in  the  smaller  card  printing,  has  lately  come 
in  vogue.  The  negative  is 
printed  in  a  vignette,  feath- 
ering out  very  softly,  until 
the  medallion  which  was  pre- 
viously placed  on  the  negative 
(varnished  side)  stops  it,  but 
very  faintly  so,  and  then  a 
faint  border  of  the  same  shade 
as  the  very  edges  of  the  halo  is 
printed,  and  the  print  when 
finished  is  very  fine. 

The  exposure  to  the  light, 
when  printed  as  just  de- 
scribed, should  only  be  about 
two  to  three  seconds,  a  second  more  often  spoiling  the  print. 

There  are  a  number  of  cameo  presses  in  the  market.    Fig.  32 


FIG.  32. 


76  THE  PRACTICAL  PRINTER. 

represents  Chute's  Universal  Cameo  Press,  which  is  adapted  to 
cabinet  or  Imperials  as  well  as  cards,  and  is  the  best. 

The  beauty  of  the  above  styles  of  printing  seems  to  be  generally 
acknowledged  by  at  least  the  patrons  of  the  galleries  in  which  I 
have  printed,  if  one  might  be  allowed  to  judge  from  the  orders  that 
were  continually  being  given  for  them. 


CHAPTER    X^L 
PRINTING  THE  BEND  ANN  BACKGROUNDS. 

OF  all  the  improvements  within  the  last  year  or  two,  in  the  print- 
ing department  of  our  art,  nothing  excels  or  even  equals  that  of  the 
use  of  uBendann  Brothers'  Backgrounds,"  for  the  merit  of  which 
"  The  Holmes  Medal"  was  awarded  to  them  by  the  National  Pho- 
tographic Association,  at  their  convention  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in 
1872.  The  simplicity  and  convenience  of  using  them,  as  well  as 
their  great  beauty,  insured  for  them  at  once  a  hearty  welcome,  and 
it  was  not  a  long  time  before  they  were  in  use  in  the  printing  de- 
partment of  the  leading  galleries  in  the  United  States.  There  are 
many  designs,  and  among  them  a  great  variety  of  interiors,  such  as 
drawing-rooms,  libraries,  &c.,  and  some  of  them  with  beautiful 
paintings  on  the  walls  are  very  noticeable. 

The  inexperienced  printer  is  troubled  a  little  when  he  first  com- 
mences to  use  these  background  negatives,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
such  ones  who  may  not  understand  the  modus  operandi,  I  have 
entered  quite  minutely  into  the  details  of  using  them. 

The  public  admires  and  "want  the  Bendann  Backgrounds,"  and 
if  business  is  dull,  this  will  refresh  it. 

In  making  the  portrait  negatives  for  this  kind  of  printing,  do  not 
have  the  background  either  too  dark  or  too  light ;  a  medium  light 
ground  is  best. 

When  you  have  negatives  with  rather  a  light  background,  select 
a  Bendann  Background  that  is  not  quite  as  decided  in  its  contrasts 
about  the  centre  as  others  may  be,  such  as  some  negatives  of  libra- 
ries that  I  have  seen  ;  providing  said  library  is  suitable  to  the  idea 
to  be  conveyed. 

As  to  the  artistic  results  that  can  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  the 


PRINTING   THE   BENDANN   BACKGROUNDS.  77 

backgrounds,  let  us  notice  a  couple  of  instances  which  will,  I  think, 
illustrate  what  we  wish. 

Would  it  be  appropriate  to  select  a  library  background  when  the 
figure  is  that  of  a  gentleman  reading  ? 

A  gentleman  and  lady  in  outdoor  costume,  standing  conversing, 
he  toying  with  his  cane,  she  picking  a  flower  to  pieces — would  not 
some  one  of  the  exterior  backgrounds  answer  capitally  ? 

There  are  a  great  number  of  cases  in  which  these  backgrounds 
can  be  used  with  artistic  results,  but  my  space  will  not  permit  me 
to  dwell  further,  and  I  will  pass  over  this  part  with  this  remark, 
that  the  artistic  photographer  can  indulge  in  a  few  such  positions 
as  promenading,  conversation,  reading,  meeting  of  friends,  collec- 
tion of  gossips,  &c.,  with  a  plain  woollen  background,  and  back- 
grounds either  interior  or  exterior  can  be  printed  in,  suitable  to  the 
dress  of  the  figure  and  the  idea  to  be  conveyed  in  general,  with  such 
effect  as  to  make  the  finished  print  look  like  (what  it  surely  is)  an 
artistic  photograph. 

In  preparing  to  print  these  backgrounds,  first  print  the  sensitive 
paper  under  the  negatives  until  finished,  and  then  remove  them 
from  the  frame  as  you  would  do  if  there  were  to  be  no  backgrounds 
printed  in.  Print  the  number  of  prints  wanted  and  one  extra. 
This  extra  print,  which  can  be  the  worst  print  of  all,  is  then  used  as 
a  cut-out  for  use  in  the  printing  of  the  "  Bendann  Background." 

In  cutting  out,  observe  whether  the  dress,  draperies,  &c.,  are  light 
or  dark,  and  if  light,  cut  in  all  around,  but  exactly  on  the  edge  of 
the  figure  down  to  the  floor,  leaving  the  floor  in  the  cut-out. 

It  "may  be  worth  mentioning  here  that  the  floor  of  a  print  or  neg- 
ative— whether  they* are  copies  or  life — should  never  be  taken  out, 
or  the  resulting  prints  will  in  every  case  be  worthless. 

In  cutting  out  the  print  mentioned  above,  if  the  draperies,  &c.,  are 
dark,  then  cut  a  little  inside  of  the  edges  and  all  around  the  figure, 
with  the  exception  of  the  face,  hands,  &c.,  which  should  be  cut  as 
all  light  things  should  be,  ?'.  e.,  on  the  line. 

Do  you  remember  when  you  were  children,  how  you  would  cut 
the  pictures  out  of  your  picture-books,  and  how  careful  you  were  to 
cut  them,  as  you  then  termed  it,  "  on  the  line  ?" 

Do  so  in  making  the  cut-outs  with  light  draperies,  but  with  dark 
draperies  a  little  inside  is  best,  for  since  they  are  dark  the  back- 
ground will  not  be  likely  to  show  in  on  the  drapery  of  the  prints  so 
as  to  be  at  all  noticeable  ;  only  cut,  however,  the  least  trifle  inside 
when  cutting  the  draperies,  although  more  freedom  is  given  as  re- 
gards the  hair,  if  dark.  Spaces  between  the  arms,  legs  or  two  figures 
should  be  cut  out. 


78  THE   PKACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  suitable  background  negative  being  selected,  the  cut-out  is 
placed  on  the  back  of  it,  and  the  sensitive  side  of  the  paper  out- 
wards, and  then,  when  a  print  is  laid  under  the  background  nega- 
tive, the  cut-out  and  print  will  lay  in  the  same  position,  since  they 
both  are  face  up,  and  consequently  all  parts  of  the  cut-out  will  fit 
the  print. 

The  centre  of  the  head  of  the  cut-out  should  be  laid  on  the  glass 
side  of  the  negative,  allowing  the  edges  of  it  to  curl  up  slightly,  and 
a  weight  or  knife  laid  on  the  cut-out  will  prevent  it  from  curling  up 
during  the  printing  of  the  background. 

If  there  are  panels  to  the  doors  of  the  interior  backgrounds,  al- 
low the  floor  of  the  cut-out  to  run  parallel  to  the  cross  panels,  i.  e., 
those  panels  which  run  parallel  to  the  floor.  Heed  this  last  remark, 
and  when  you  have  learned  its  importance,  you  will  see  the  value 
of  it. 

Now  substitute  the  background  negative  for  the  portrait  nega- 
tive, adjusting  it  properly  in  place.  Then  place  the  mask  on  top  of 
the  background  negative,  and  a  weight  on  the  whole  to  prevent  slip- 
ping. Some  parties  use  paste,  but  a  weight  answers  as  well  and  is 
easier. 

For  instance,  if  the  figure  is  with  dark  draperies,  and  you  have, 
as  per  advice  given  above,  cut  a  trifle  inside  of  the  draperies  in 
making  the  cut-out,  then  the  print  should  be  so  placed  that  you  can 
see  a  trifle  all  around  the  edge  of  the  cut-out  by  looking  directly  at 
the  light,  and  then  you  should  place  all  in  a  shallow  printing-frame, 
without  moving  it  from  its  present  position,  and  fasten  the  backboard 
in.  A  little  practice  in  placing  these  negatives  and  prints  in  the 
frames  will  soon  enable  you  to  do  it  without  moving  the  print  or 
negative  in  the  least  from  their  relative  position. 

If,  however,  the  figure  of  the  print  is  in  a  light  dress,  such  as  a 
bride  in  her  wedding-dress,  and  the  cut-out  is  cut  as  has  been  advised, 
then  the  print  should  match  ifie  cut-out  in  every  particular,  and  a  back- 
ground chosen  that  will,  of  course,  have  no  heavy  lines  in  it  that 
come  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  dress,  veil,  &c.,  because  these 
things  being  so  very  light  the  diffused  rays  of  the  sun  will  penetrate 
under  the  edge  of  the  cut-out,  and  if  there  are  such  lines  they  will 
be  likely  to  print  on  the  dress,  &c. 

An  experienced  printer,  however,  can  use  such  backgrounds  with- 
out having  these  lines  show  in  the  least  on  the  dress.  I  should  ad- 
vise the  beginner  always  to  choose  a  background  negative  that  is 
rather  intense  at  the  centre,  as  some  are  purposely  made,  and  then 
there  will  be  no  danger  of  these  lines  showing  on  the  figure. 

In  placing  the  print  on  the  negative  there  are  several  points 


PRINTING   THE   BEND  ANN   BACKGROUNDS.  79 

worthy  of  notice  here  that  should  be  looked  at  to  see  if  they  are  cor- 
rect before  placing  the.  negative  out  to  print. 

Look  to  see  whether  the  face  of  the  cut-out  is  cut  as  it  should  be, 
i.  e.,  never  inside,  but  always  on  the  line,  unless  there  is  hair  on  the 
sides  of  it,  and  then  it  should  be  cut  a  trifle  inside  of  that  hair. 
Then  come  the  shoulders  and  arms,  especially  if  they  are  about 
bare,  and  then  finally  look  to  the  dress. 

I  said  above,  in  making  the  cut-out,  to  cut  with  a  little  more  free- 
dom about  the  hair,  and  I  will  here  state  why. 

Sometimes  there  is  a  little  light  place  on  the  prin ted-in  background, 
either  just  above  the  top  of  the  head  or  by  the  side  of  it,  generally  the 
former,  which  is  occasioned  either  by  the  print  being  placed  on  wrong, 
or  by  the  cut-out  shading  said  places  of  the  background  during  the 
printing.  The  reason  why  it  shades  is  because  great  pains  is  not 
taken,  while  it  is  exposed  to  the  light,  to  have  the  'negative-boards 
exactly  face  to  the  strongest  sunlight,  but  it  is  generally  allowed  to 
slant  in  that  direction  which  the  light  place  on  the  background  may 
indicate.  In  the  greater  number  of  cases  the  hair  is  quite  dark  on 
the  top  of  the  head,  also  on  at  least  one  of  the  sides,  if  not  both, 
as  a  gentleman  with  thick  wavy  hair  and  full  beard.  When  the 
hair  is  as  just  described  then  you  can,  if  you  wish,  cut  quite  away 
inside,  say  from  one-twentieth  to  one-thirty-second  of  an  inch,  for 
when  the  hair  is  dark  it  will  do  no  harm,  and  will  then  prevent  the 
shading  of  the  background  in  printing. 

After  you  have  placed  your  print  in  the  right  position  on  the  nega- 
tive, and  have  fastened  the  back  to  the  printing-frame,  you  are  then 
to  print  in  the  background,  which  is  accomplished  by  placing  the 
printing-frame  exactly  face  to  the  sun  (see  page  82),  and  keeping  it 
constantly  in  motion  by  gently  moving  it  from  side  to  side  and  from 
top  to  bottom,  care  being  taken  that  it  is  constantly  kept  in  motion. 

In  cloudy  weather  several  negatives  may  be  printed  at  once, 
taking  care  to  frequently  turn  each  one. 

Unless  the  background  negative  is  made  as  some  are,  with  the 
centre  of  it  a  little  more  intense  than  the  border,  it  will  as  thus 
printed  give  to  the  figure  a  sunk-in  appearance,  as  though  it  were  too 
close  to  the  background,  as  in  ordinary,  negative-making.  To  over- 
come this  defect  we  make  another  cut-out,  roughly  cut  from  a  card- 
board, with  about  the  same  shape  as  the  cut-out  on  the  back  of  the 
background  negative,  but  considerably  larger  than  that,  so  that  when 
it  is  held  up  before  the  cut-out  on  the  negative  it  will  overlap  on  all 
sides  of  it  for  the  space  of  half  an  inch  or  so.  This  rough  cut-out  is 
held  with  one  hand  about  the  space  of  a  foot  from  the  negative,  so 
that  it  will  shade  the  cut-out  on  the  back  of  the  negative.  This  last- 


80  THE   PEACTICAL   PRINTER. 

mentioned  cut-out,  intended  to  shade  the  figure  of  the  print,  should 
always  be  kept  in  a  brisk  motion  by  means  of  the  right  hand,  while 
you  hold  the  negative-board/ace  to  the  sunlight  with  the  left  hand. 
The  direct  rays  of  the  sun  will  fall  on  that  part  of  the  negative  that 
this  rough  cut-out  permits  it  to  do,  and  only  the  diffused  light  is  per- 
mitted to  print  the  background  in  close  to  the  figure,  and  the  diffused 
light  not  being  so  strong  as  the  direct,  it  will,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence, print  lighter  at  that  part  where  only  the  diffused  light  is 
permitted  to  go  than  where  it  is  not,  and  the  finished  print  will  have 
a  decided  air  of  relief,  on  account  of  the  toning  down  of  the  back- 
ground as  it  approaches  the  figure. 

Some  may  criticize  this  on  the  ground  that  the  diffused  light 
would  not  permit  the  background  around  the  figure  to  print  hardly 
any  before  the  border  would  be  plenty  dark.  These  background 
negatives  are  quite  thin,  and  in  strong  diffused  light  (which  would  be 
the  case  if  the  pasteboard  were  held  at  some  distance  from  the  nega- 
tive) the  background  around  the  figure  will  be  permitted  to  print 
some  before  the  outside  is  done,  but  if  upon  examination  of  the 
print  before  it  is  done  it  should  show  that  this  part  of  the  print  would 
be  too  light,  then  expose  the  whole  thing  without  the  rough  cut-out 
to  the  full  sunlight,  and  permit  it  to  remain  there  for  about  a  min- 
ute, keeping  the  board  in  a  gentle  motion  in  the  meantime,  and  then 
finish  the  rest  of  the  printing  in  of  the  background  with  the  aid  of 
the  rough  cardboard  cut-out. 

Instead  of  making  this  extra  cut-out  for  every  different  pose  that 
has  to  be  printed  with  a  "  Bendann  Background  "  I  use  a  handker- 
chief, and  by  the  aid  of  the  fingers  of  my  right  hand  I  contrive  to 
fasten  it  in  the  shape  I  wish,  with  but  little  trouble  and  considerable 
saving  of  time. 

Vignetted  grounds,  especially  for  outdoor  scenes,  are  very  beauti- 
ful and  stylish.  The  vignette  is  made  as  usual ;  proceed  as  above, 
only  relieve  the  ground  ;  in  printing  in,  vignette  the  edges.  Vignetted 
grounds  are  best  printed  in  the  shade,  as  they  do  not  require  strong 
printing  in. 

As  to  the  depth  of  printing  these  backgrounds,  attention  must 
be  given  to  the  style  of  the  print,  &c.,  and  then  let  your  own  taste 
be  your  guide. 


PRINTING   INTENSE   NEGATIVES.  81 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
FEINTING  INTENSE  NEGATIVES. 

THESE  negatives  generally  print  "chalky"  in  the  lights,  and 
' '  inky-black ' '  in  the  shadows.  In  a  negative  that  is  too  intense  there 
is  scarcely  any  detail  whatever  either  in  the  high-lights  or  in  the 
shadows.  Such  a  negative  then  will  yield  what  may  be  termed  bold 
and  vigorous-looking  prints,  and  will  in  many  cases  suit  the  cus- 
tomers, especially  some  ladies  who  like  to  see  their  faces  very  white. 

To  a  well-educated  person  nothing  is  more  repulsive,  in  the  way 
of  photographs,  than  the  harsh  black-and-white  pictures,  without 
any  of  the  fine  detail  either  in  the  lights  or  shades,  which  are  now  so 
universally  admired.  The  contrast  between  the  lights  and  shades 
in  such  a  negative  is  too  great,  and  consequently  it  should  be  toned 
down  or  softened. 

It  is  well  known  among  most  printers  that  the  slower  a  negative 
prints  the  more  contrast  there  will  be  in  the  resulting  print,  and 
vice  versa.  Such  a  negative,  then,  should  be  printed  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible. 

A  too  sensitive  paper  will  make  the  contrast  all  the  .greater,  and 
our  object  in  this  case,  then,  is  to  have  a  paper  silvered  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  obtain  a  print  less  harsh  than  would  be  obtained  in 
the  ordinary  way  of  working.  Paper,  then,  should  be  silvered  ex- 
pressly for  such  negatives,  and  kept  separately  from  the  rest,  for  the 
paper  which  would  produce  fine  prints  from  intense  negatives  would 
produce  miserable  ones  from  weak  negatives. 

The  paper  should  be  silvered  only  a  very  few  seconds  on  a  weak 
bath  (say  from  fifteen  to  twenty  seconds  on  a  35-grain  bath  for  the 
Berlin  brand  of  paper,  for  the  Hovey  brand  fifteen  seconds  on  a  25- 
grain  bath,  and  for  other  brands  say  thirty  seconds  on  a  30-grain 
bath),  and  fumed  just  long  enough  to  prevent  it  from  printing  the 
objectionable  red  color,  which  is  sometimes  quite  difficult  to  manage 
in  the  after-operations. 

After  fuming,  if  the  paper  is  damp,  dry  it,  and  then  after  cutting 
it  up  to  a  suitable  size  for  printing,  place  it  in  a  box  which  is  labelled 
"Paper  for  Intense  Negatives,"  and  always  use  this  box  for  this 
brand  of  paper,  and  then  there  will  be  no  danger  of  mixing  it  with 
the  differently  timed  silvered  paper  which  is  used  for  printing  other 
kinds  of  negatives. 


82  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

We  always  use  the  pink  paper  for  intense  negatives,  for  the  color  of 
this  paper  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  print,  as  after  it  is  mounted  there 
will  be  a  delicate  pink  or  flesh  color  to  the  high-lights,  which  will 
look  very  much  like  the  flesh,  and  consequently  will  tend  towards 
giving  the  appearance  of  detail  in  those  parts  of  the  prints  that 
print  chalky,  such  as  the  face,  hands,  &c. 

After  having  filled  a  negative-board,  containing  one  of  these  in- 
tense negatives,  with  a  piece  of  the  paper  which  was  prepared  for 
it,  we  will  place  it  out  in  the  sunlight  to  print. 

The  more  direct  the  rays  of  the  sun  fall  on  this  negative  the 
quicker  will  it  print,  because  the  light  will  be  correspondingly 
brighter.  This  is  the  reason  why,  when  we  place  a  negative  out  to 
print  in  the  sunlight,  it  prints  quicker  than  when  placed  in  the  shade, 
and  when  placed  face  up  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  it  will  print 
much  quicker  than  when  the  rays  strike  it  obliquely,  as,  for  instance, 

when  the  printing-frame  is  laid 
FlG-  33>  down  flat  on  the  printing-shelf. 

Consequently  I  recommend,  for 
very  intense  negatives,  to  place 
the  negative-board  face  up  to  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  33. 

One  of  the  easiest  ways  to  tell 
when  the  board  is  face  to  the  sun- 
light is  to  drive  a  tack  perpendicu- 
larly in  the  printing-frame,  and  in 

placing  the  board  out  to  print  place  it  so  that  the  tack  will  not  cast 
any  shadow  except  where  the  sun  shines  direct  upon  it,  and  then  a 
place  as  large  as  the  head  of  the  tack  alone  will  be  shaded  on  the 
board. 

The  way  I  generally  do  is  to  place  the  board  so  that  the  shadow 
which  is  cast  by  the  board  will  run  in  the  same  direction  as  the  sides 
of  the  board,  i.e.,  a  straight  line  continuing  from  the  sides  of  the 
board  will  run  in  exactly  the  same  direction  as  the  shadow  cast.  An 
easier  way,  perhaps,  to  do  this  is  to  place  your  finger  close  to  the 
board,  so  that  the  shadow  will  come  on  your  finger  at  exactly  the 
place  where  it  commences  to  extend  out  beyond  the  sides  of  "the 
board.  Do  this  on  all  the  sides,  being  careful  that  in  getting  the 
shadow  right  on  one  side  that  you  do  not  lose  it  on  the  opposite  one. 
When  you  have  obtained  the  correct  shadow,  you  can  with  cer- 
tainty say  that  for  the  time  being  at  least,  the  negative-board  is  cor- 
rectly placed  face  to  the  rays  of  the  sun.  I  very  often  watch  in 
placing  a  board  out  in  the  sunlight,  and  move  it  until  I  commence  to 


PRINTING   INTENSE   NEGATIVES. 


83 


see  the  light  flickering  along  all  of  the  sides,  then  I  know  that  the 
board  is  all  right  without  the  use  of  my  finger.  You  will  soon  get 
used  to  it,  and  after  the  first  few  times  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
place  your  finger  there,  and  it  will  only  take  two  or  three  seconds  to 
place  it  exactly  right  with  one  hand,  while  with  your  other  you  can 
be  taking  up  another  board  to  place  out  to  print. 

The  advantage  of  the  above  plan  can  readily  be  seen  by  those 
who  print  those  styles  of  prints  known  as  "  Mezzotints." 

One  disadvantage  in  placing  the  intense  negatives  face  to  the  sun, 
without  either  ground-glass  or  tissue-paper  over  them,  is  the  liability 
of  there  being  some  bubbles,  scratches,  &c.,  in  the  glass,  which  would 
print  on  the  paper,  and  these  would  be  the  cause  of  great  trouble  in 
touching  them  out  in  the  mounted  print.  Many  times  have  I  been 
annoyed  in  the  same  manner  in  printing  such  negatives,  and  then 
would  be  obliged  to  place  a  ground-glass  over  the  negatives,  if  the 
defects  were  very  small,  and  a  couple  if  they  were  quite  large,  to 
avoid  their  being  printed.  Sometimes  even  a  tissue-paper  must  be 
used  to  fully  answer  the  purpose  ;  hence  the  consequence  of  using 
the  best  No.  1  glass  in  making  the  negatives. 

Print  until  the  shadows  are  a  trifle  darker  than  you  wish  them  to 
be  when  done,  and  then  take  the  print  off  and  examine  it.  "Print 
for  the  shadows  and  let  the  lights  take  care  of  themselves, "  is  a  very 
good  motto,  and  worthy  of  notice  in  printing  intense  negatives. 

On  examining  the  print,  if  the  lights  of  the  face  are  very  white,  so 
as  not  to  contain  much  detail,  then  they  should  be  softened. 

There  are  various  ways  of  doing  this,  and  one  of  the  best  in  many 
respects  is  that  of  making  an  aperture  full  as  large  as  the  place 
to  be  shaded,  in  a  suitable  size 
piece  of  yellow  envelope-paper, 
and  holding,  the  print  in  the  left 
hand,  and  the  envelope-paper  in 
the  right,  hold  them  both  out  in 
diffused  light,  and  tone  down  the 
blanky  whites  of  the  print. 

FIG.  34.  A  is  the  print  to  be 
shaded,  and  B  is  the  paper  with  a 
piece  of  it  cut  out,  thus  enabling 
us  to  shade  the  print  easily.  The 
place  to  be  shaded  is  at  the  fore- 
head. 

Care  should  be  exercised  in 
performing  this,  as  the  least  thing  out  of  the  way  will  spoil  the 


84  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

prints.  The  paper  should  always  be  in  motion  while  out  in  the  sun- 
light, so  that  there  will  not  be  any  sharp  line  on  the  print. 

The  place  to  be  softened  should  be  darkened  a  very  little,  two  or 
three  seconds'  exposure  to  the  sunlight,  and  half  a  dozen  or  so  more 
in  the  diffused  rays,  being  all  that  is  generally  required. 

Never  attempt  to  shade  a  print  in  this  manner  unless  the  hole  in  the 
paper  is  full  as  large  as  the  place  to  be  shaded,  for  with  a  smaller  hole 
you  will  most  probably  spoil  it,  by  shading  it  irregularly. 

The  shaded  place  should  also  be  a  trifle  darker  than  what  it  should 
be  when  done.  Practice  will  soon  render  you  perfect  in  this  little 
printing  dodge,  as  well  as  in  other,  at  first  difficult,  parts  of  printing. 

I  have  seen  many  prints  very  much  improved  by  this  method,  and 
then  again  I  have  seen  many  others  ruined. 

A  print  printed  in  the  manner  described  above  from  a  very  intense 
negative,  will  have  the  following  advantages  : 

1.  It  will  be  a  bold  and  vigorous-looking  print. 

2.  It  will  present  fine  contrasts  without  harshness,  and  will  con- 
tain softness  throughout. 

3.  There  will  be  detail,  both  in  the  shadows  and  in  the  lights. 

As  a  whole  the  prints  will  be  very  much  improved  over  what 
would  have  been  obtained  from  the  negative,  providing  it  had  been 
printed  without  regard  to  its  improvement. 

There  are  other  ways,  however,  to  improve  such  a  negative,  and 
which  are  more  or  less  dependent  upon  each  other  to  produce  the 
proper  result. 

In  place  of  shading  the  print  after  it  is  taken  off  the  printing- 
frame,  it  can,  if  you  choose,  be  done  while  printing,  by  shading  the 
shadows  of  the  negative  with  a  cloth,  while  the  lights  are  printing. 
In  the  sunlight  the  cloth  should  always  be  in  motion  ;  in  the  shade, 
however,  if  the  cloth  is  moved  a  trifle  every  minute  or  two,  that  will 
be  sufficient.  It  is  sometimes  better  to  do  the  shading  in  this  manner 
than  in  any  other,  when  a  bolder  print  is  required  than  what  would 
be  obtained  by  shading  it  after  it  is  taken  from  the  frame.  Some- 
times when  the  shadows  are  very  heavy,  and  get  printed  long  before 
the  lights  get  done,  it  will  not  then  always  answer  our  purpose  to 
take  the  print  off  and  shade  it  in  the  manner  first  described  under 
the  heading  of  this  chapter  ;  because  it  will  often  give  a  fiat  appear- 
ance, shade  it  as  little  as  we  choose,  and  instead  of  improving  it, 
the  contrary  effect  will  be  the  result. 

This  shows  then  that  the  lights  need  to  be  printed  for  awhile  after 
the  shadows  are  done,  before  we  think  of  shading  or  tinting  them  by  ex- 
posure to  the  light,  and  to  tell  when  we  have  obtained  a  negative  that 
needs  this  is  our  next  object. 


PRINTING   INTENSE   NEGATIVES.  85 

I  will  suppose  we  have  a  very  intense  negative,  in  which  an  at- 
tempt at  shadow  effects  has  been  made,  and  violent  contrasts  have 
been  produced.  The  subject  is  a  lady  who  has  gone  too  far  away 
for  another  sitting,  and  the  photographs  are  to  be  sent  to  her  by 
mail,  and  as  this  is  the  only  negative  of  her,  it  must  be  printed  after 
it  is  retouched,  which  latter  process  makes  it  still  more  intense. 

The  printer  here  then  has  a  difficult  task  to  make  a  dozen  prints 
from  that  negative,  and  upon  making  a  proof  of  it,  finds  as  he  ex- 
pected that  the  shadows  are  done  a  long  time  before  the  high-lights 
or  lighter  side  of  the  face,  and  having  removed  the  proof  from  the 
printing-frame  when  the  shadow  side  of  the  face  is  done,  he  can 
then  expose  the  lighted  side  for  two  or  three  seconds  in  the  strong 
sunlight,  as  has  been  described  above.  After  he  has  exposed  this 
lighted  side,  he  takes  it  in,  and  immediately  notices  that  the  side  is 
no  longer  white,  but  is  decidedly  flat,  being  all  over  alike  from  the  top 
of  the  forehead  down  to  the  chin.  There  is  then  some  detail  wanted  to 
be  printed  in  on  that  side  of  the  face  so  as  to  prevent  flatness,  before  we 
shade  or  tint  the  side  by  exposure  to  the  sunlight. 

How  can  it  be  obtained  ? 

There  are  several  ways  to  do  this,  which  we  will  here  describe, 
showing  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each. 

We  might  shade  the  shadow  side  of  the  face,  by  moving  a  cloth 
over  the  dark  side  of  it  while  printing  in  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun, 
or  by  moving  it  once  or  twice  every  minute  or  two,  if  printed  in 
diffused  light. 

Before  proceeding  further,  I  will  here  mention  that  we  are  sup- 
posed to  be  using  the  pink  paper,  silvered  only  a  few  seconds  on  a 
weak  bath,  fumed  a  few  minutes,  and  then  thoroughly  dried. 

In  reference  to  the  method  last  described,  the  results  are  often  un- 
satisfactory, while  the  disadvantages  are  many,  viz, : 

1.  It  is  a  tedious  operation,  when  the  lighted  side  has  to  be  printed 
considerably.  • 

2.  There  is  great  danger  of  shading  the  background,  drapery,  &a, 
which  will  (especially  when  it  takes  so  long  a  time  to  accomplish 
it)  show  badly  on  account  of  the  different  depths  of  printing  there 
is  to  them. 

3.  Every  print  you  make  will  have  to  be  printed  with  all  of  this 
trouble,  and  by  the  waste  of  much  valuable  time. 

Our  next  object  then  is  to  obtain  a  better  way  to  do  this,  which 
will  have  the  advantage  of  being  more  easily  and  better  done.  There 
is  a  comparatively  simple  method,  and  we  will  try  it 

Instead  of  shading  the  shadow  side  when  done,  we  will  simply 


86  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

apply  some  transparent  color  to  the  back  of  the  negative,  exactly 
behind  the  shadows,  so  that  while  the  lights  are  printing,  the  said 
shadows  will  print  slower. 

This  color  is  applied  as  described  on  another  page. 

By  regulating  the  thickness  of  the  color  on  the  back  of  the  nega- 
tive, we  can  make  the  shadows  print  about  as  we  wish. 

Apply  until  you  get  it  at  the  proper  thickness  or  density,  which 
is  readily  determined  by  printing  a  proof  of  it,  with  a  single  tissue- 
paper  placed  over  the  printing-board.  The  tissue-paper  will  to  be 
sure  make  the  negative  print  slower,  but  it  will  print  better,  for  this 
color  will  more  than  counterbalance  that  which  we  may  lose  by  the 
use  of  the  tissue-paper. 

When  this  color  is  applied  as  it  should  be,  you  will  then  see  that 
by  the  time  the  shadows  are  done,  the  lights  will  have  enough  detail 
in  many  places  to  warrant  you  to  remove  the  print  from  the  frame, 
and  tint  the  lighted  side,  as  has  been  described. 

Upon  looking  now  at  the  print,  you  will  readily  perceive  at  a 
glance,  that  the  side  of  the  face  of  the  lady's  photograph  is  no 
longer  fiat,  but  there  is  a  boldness  yet  softness  to  the  whole. 

The  detail  which  was  printed  in  on  the  lighted  side  of  the  face, 
was  a  little  over  the  temple,  and  considerable  more  on  the  upper, 
middle,  and  lower  parts  of  the  clieeks.  This  is  what  gives  form  to 
that  side  of  the  face,  and  is  just  what  was  needed. 

Properly  silvered  pink  paper,  and  a  little  judicious  shading  after 
printing,  gave  us  a  nice  bold  yet  soft  print  full  of  detail,  which  we 
secured  even  in  the  deep  shades,  from  a  harsh  negative,  by  proper 
masking  or  painting  of  the  shadows. 

Another  way  to  print  this  negative  would  be  to  place  it  up  against 
the  window-glass,  varnished  side  next  to  it,  and  lay  a  piece  of 
tissue-paper  on  the  back  part  of  it,  and  with  a  lead-pencil  mark  on 
the  paper  just  on  the  edges  of  the  deep  shadows  which  you  wish  to 
print  slower.  Now  cut  this  paper  out,  and  place  it  on  the  back  of 
the  negative  exactly  behind  where  the  deep  shadows  are,  and  then 
place  the  negative  out  to  print,  after  having  placed  another  tissue- 
paper  over  the  whole. 

In  placing  this  paper  on  the  back  of  the  negative,  raise  the  edges 
of  it  a  trifle  so  that  it  will  not  lay  flat  on  the  glass,  and  cause  the  edges 
of  it  to  print. 

Negatives  which  have  either  some  transparent  color  or  tissue-paper 
placed  on  the  back  of  them  should  always  be  placed  face  up  to  the 
strongest  light,  so  that  the  places  which  are  intended  to  be  shaded 
will  be  so,  for  very  often  if  you  lay  the  board  down  flat,  the  strongest 
light  striking  the  negative  obliquely,  the  thickness  of  the  glass  will 


PRINTING   INTENSE   NEGATIVES.  87 

cause  the  color  or  paper  to  shade  a  different  place  than  that  which 
you  intend  it  to  do.  (Study  Figures  33  and  34.)  This  is  especially 
the  case  when  the  place  to  be  shaded  is  a  small  one. 

The  hands  and  arms,  shadows  under  the  eyebrows,  shadows  in 
the  cheeks,  shadows  under  the  nose,  the  chin,  the  shaded  ear,  neck, 
&c.,  can  very  often  be  improved  by  either  of  the  last  two  mentioned 
ways,  viz. ,  transparent  color  or  tissue-paper,  sometimes  one,  and  often 
the  other,  answering  the  better  of  the  two.  Do  not  carry  either  to 
excess,  however,  for  the  shadows  need  only  to  be  softened  more  or 
less  according  to  circumstances,  and  not  entirely  removed. 

The  transparent  color  is  really  a  good  thing,  as  the  following 
instance,  out  of  a  very  great  many  that  have  come  under  my  obser- 
vation, will  testify : 

Miss  Hattie  W.'s  negative  is  a  "shadow "  one,  and  she  wants  it 
printed  in  a  vignette,  but  the  lighted  side  does  not,  when  the  shadows 
are  printed,  possess  sufficient  detail  unless  we  make  use  of  this  color. 
As  the  prints  from  this  negative  are  like  the  ones  described  last,  we 
will  have  to  blue-paint  three-quarters  of  the  whole  face,  which  can 
very  easily  be  done,  and  thus  allow  good  prints  to  be  obtained  from 
it,  which,  if  we  did  not  blue-paint  or  fix  it  in  some  way,  we  would 
have  a  very  black  shadow,  which  would  greatly  mar  the  beauty  of 
the  picture. 

Sometimes  two  or  three  pieces  of  tissue-paper,  cut  to  the  size  of 
the  dark  side  of  the  face,  and  pasted  (by  touching  the  centre  of  each 
piece  with  a  little  starch),  on  the  back  of  the  negative,  will  answer 
very  well. 

An  excellent  way  to  print  the  negative,  when  it  is  to  be  printed 
either  plain  or  in  the  medallion  style,  is  to  take  a  magnify  ing- 
glass — the  so-called  "sun-glass" — which  has  a  diameter  of  about 
three  inches,  and  by  means  of  it  to  print  up  the  intense  parts  of  the 
negative,  being  careful,  however,  that  you  do  not  draw  the  light  to 
a  focus  on  the  negative,  for  then  you  will  both  spoil  the  negative 
and  print. 

We  very  frequently  use  the  glass  for  such  negatives^  and  also  for 
printing  detail  in  white  dresses,  &c. 

For  intense  negatives,  then,  we  can  sum  up  the  following  remarks 
for  their  improvement  in  printing  : 

1st.  Pink  paper  should  be  silvered  on  a  moderately  weak,  bath,  for 
a  comparatively  short  time  to  what  it  is  when  prepared  for  weak 
negatives. 

2d.  The  paper  should  be  fumed  only  a  very  few  minutes. 

3d.  The  negative  should  be  printed  as  quickly  as  possible,  which 


88  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

/ 

can  be  done  by  placing  it  in  the  strongest  sunlight,  with  nothing 
over  it,  providing  the  quality  of  the  glass,  &c. ,  permits. 

4th.  Soften  the  too  deep  shadows  of  the  negative  with  some  trans- 
parent color,  and  thus  permit  the  lights  to  print  longer.  Print  such 
negatives  under  tissue-paper. 

5th.  Print  until  there  is  some  detail  in  the  lights,  taking  care  that 
the  shadows  do  not  overprint. 

tith.  After  removing  the  print  from  the  board,  soften  the  blanky 
whites  of  the  face,  light  dresses,  &c.,  by  exposure  to  the  light,  pro- 
tecting the  rest, of  the  print  by  some  opaque  paper,  as  has  minutely 
been  described  above. 

7th.  Sometimes  the  whole  print  can  be  held  out  a  few  seconds 
with  fine  results. 

8th.  If  the  places  to  be  tinted  by  exposure  to  the  light  are  large, 
such  as  a  side  of  the  face,  there  will  have  to  be  some  detail  printed 
in  on  that  side  or  place,  as  the  case  may  be,  before  the  print  is 
removed  from  the  printing-frame,  so  as  to  prevent  flatness. 

9th.  By  the  use  of  a  common  magnifying  or  sun-glass,  the  lights 
of  the  face,  hands,  &c.,  can  be  printed  quipkly  and  well. 

10th.  Study  how  to  improve  the  prints  in  printing  the  order  from 
a  negative,  and  you  will  not  fail  to  do  something  towards  raising 
the  standard  of  your  work. 

The  further  operations  of  improving  the  prints  from  intense  nega- 
tives, such  as  the  toning,  fixing,  &c.,  will  be  described  under  their 
respective  heads. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 
FEINTING   WEAK  NEGATIVES: 

As  is  the  case  in  "printing  intense  negatives,"  so  paper  should 
also  be  prepared  especially  for  "printing  weak  negatives." 

White  paper  should  be  silvered  for  a  specified  time  on  a  strong 
silver  printing-bath  (say  from  forty  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  sec- 
onds, on  a  bath  from  45  to  80  grains  strong  of  nitrate  of  silver  to 
the  ounce  of  water) ;  but  the  strength  of  the  bath  and  time  of  float- 
ing should  vary,  according  to  the  temperature  of  the  weather,  class 
of  negatives  to  be  printed,  &c. 

When  the  paper  is  ready  for  fuming,  it  should  be  fumed  not  less 
than  fifteen  minutes,  and  often  for  half  an  hour.  (See  page  31, 
"  Fuming  the  Paper.")  Sensitive  albumen  paper,  when  it  has  been 


PRINTING   WEAK   NEGATIVES.  89 

sensitized  the  day  before,  is  excellent  for  printing  very  weak  nega- 
tives, giving  much  bolder  prints  than  it  would  if  it  were  freshly 
sensitized. 

The  paper  for  weak  negatives,  like  that  for  intense  negatives, 
should  be  kept  by  itself,  and  for  this  purpose  have  a  box  or  drawer 
labelled  "  Paper  for  Weak  Negatives." 

There  are  only  a  few  negatives  out  of  a  day's  printing  that  need 
any  preparatory  treatment  before  printing. 

In  by  far  the  majority  of  cases,  the  beauty  of  the  negatives  con- 
sists in  their  thinness,  unless  they  are  so  thin  as  to  give  very  flat 
prints. 

In  a  thin  or  weak  negative,  such  a  one  as  I  at  present  have  in 
my  mind's  eye,  its  beauty  consists  in  detail  throughout  in  the  strongest 
high-lights,  as  well  as  in  the  shadows,'  also  in  its  color,  lighting,  &c. 
In  exposing  there  has  been  plenty  of  time  given  to  the  negative, 
and  consequently  detail  is  found  in  all  of  the  shadows  and  draperies, 
with  the  exception  of  three  or  four  places  in  the  deepest  shadows, 
where  there  is  no  detail,  and  which  accounts  for  the  brilliancy  of  the 
negatives.  A  cool  gray  color  to  the  deposit  adds  greatly  to  the 
beauty  of  the  negative,  as  well  as  to  its  printing  qualities. 

A  nicely  lighted  negative,  besides  being  beautiful — as  we  judge  it 
by  looking  through — also  prints  better,  because  then  there  is  left, 
by  the  artistic  taste  of  the  operator,  a  few  judicious  shadows,  as  last 
described,  such  as  places  in  the  hair,  which  by  contrast  are  generally 
close  to  that  part  which  has  been  powdered,  and  is  photographically  full 
of  detail ;  and  when  we  admire  beautiful  negatives,  one  of  the  first 
parts  we  look  at  is  the  hair,  especially  if  it  is  a  lady's,  and  we  very 
often  involuntarily  exclaim,  "How  brilliant  and  full  of  detail  the 
hair  is !" 

Now  prints  from  these  negatives,  which  are  so  brilliant,  bold,  and 
full  of  detail  to  the  eye,  very  often  astonish  us,  on  account  of  their 
being  exactly  opposite  to  what  we  had  been  led  to  expect,  when  we 
looked  through  them,  and  at  first  the  photographic  printer  is  both- 
ered a  little  to  account  for  it. 

This  is  accounted  for  as  follows  :  They  printed  too  fast,  and  the 
negatives  may  not  perhaps  have  the  photographic  color  which  pro- 
duces the  best  print. 

To  print  slower,  and  to  give  the  photographic  color  they  require, 
coating  the  back  of  the  negative  with  yellow  varnish  has  been 
advised,  and  I  have  tried  it  with  considerable  success ;  but  the 
prints  have  a  look  of  forced  boldness  and  coarseness,  which  spoils 
them  in  the  eyes  of  most  printers.  Undoubtedly  the  yellow  color  of 

7 


90  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

the  varnish  is  not  what  we  wish.     Nothing  is  better  to  give  a  good 
printing  quality  to  the  negatives  than  white  tissue-paper. 

The  way  to  overcome  this  rapid  printing,  is  to  print  either  in 
deep  shade,  or  under  several  tissue-papers  (we  have  used  as  many 
as  eight  or  ten), — the  latter  when  you  wish  to  place  the  board  in 
the  sunlight ;  and,  besides  printing  slower,  they  will  also  print 
better. 

When  a  negative  is  very  thin,  we  generally  print  it  under  a  porce- 
lain-glass, in  the  sunlight,  and  the  prints  are  thus  very  much  im- 
•proved.  Try  it. 

Printing  under  several  pieces  of  the  greenest  of  window-glass  is  a 
very  good  thing,  as  a  trial  of  it  will  show. 

Coating  the  back  of  too  weak  negatives  with  some  old  sensitive 
negative  collodion  will  also  improve  the  quality  of  the  prints. 

A  way  which  I  very  often  try,  if  the  negative  is  not  too  thin,  is 
to  coat  the  back  of  it  with  Hance's  liquid  "  Ground-glass  substi- 
tute," and  which  I  can  vouch  for  as  a  good  thing.  The  ground  side 
of  a  ground-glass  laid  close  to  the  negative  is  also  excellent. 

But  a  negative  which  has  flatness  throughout,  without  any  bold- 
ness worth  mentioning,  cannot  be  doctored  by  any  such  simple  treat- 
ment as  the  above.  More  decided  measures  will  have  to  be  re- 
sorted to. 

One  of  the  best  processes  to  improve  this  negative,  is  by  means 
of  that  one  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Irish  Process,"  called  after 
the  name  of  the  gentleman  who  discovered  it.  I  have  seen  samples 
which  have  been  very  much  improved  by  the  use  of  this  process  ; 
and,  when  it  is  nicely  done,  the  results  are  excellent,  having  con- 
siderable boldness  in  them. 

It  is  a  secret  process,  and  so  I  am  unable  to  give  it  here.  Those 
who  wish  to  improve  the  weak,  flat  negatives,  which  occasionally 
fall  into  their  hands,  will  find  the  other  methods  given  sufficient. 

'Another  way  to  improve  flat  negatives  is  by  the  use  of  the  blue- 
paint  dodge,  which  has  been  so  repeatedly  described  in  this  book. 
I  have  very  often  laid  it  all  over  the  face  of  the  negative,  but  on  the 
unvarnished  side  of  it,  and  after  removing  what  may  be  over  the 
eyes,  then  have  printed  it,  after  having  covered  the  back  of  the  neg- 
ative, or,  better  still,  the  printing-frame,  with  tissue-paper. 

Then,  a  very  good  way  to  allow  the  shadows  to  print  up  under 
tissue-paper^  while  the  face  is  protected,  so  as.  to  make  them  print 
bold  (which  they  will  do  if  printed  under  a  piece  or  two  of  tissue- 
paper),  is  to  cover  the  whole  negative-board  with  tissue-paper  and 
then  lay  a  dark  cloth  on  that  part  which  you  wish  to  be  shaded, 


A   FEW   MORE   REMARKS   ABOUT   PRINTING.  91 

moving  it  every  few  minutes  while  there.  By  a  little  ingenuity,  in 
the  way  of  arranging  tissue-papers,  they  can  be  made  to  answer  a 
variety  of  purposes. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A  FEW  MORE  REMARKS  ABOUT  PRINTING- 
TREATMENT  OF  BROKEN  NEGATIVES. 

IN  the  first  chapter  of  this  book,  The  Positive  Bath  for  Albu- 
men Paper,  I  have  given  a  variety  of  formulae  for  both  preparing 
and  taking  care  of  the  printing-baths,  which  I  have  either  by  my 
own,  or  by  the  experience  of  some  photographic  friend,  proved  to  be 
very  fine  in  their  results,  if  carried  out  as  recommended. 

When  a  paper — say,  for  instance,  the  Hovey — is  floated  upon  the 
silver  bath,  a  treatment  is  required  which  at  first  seems  peculiar. 
If  you  float  this  paper  upon  a  medium-strong  silver  bath  (40  to  45 
grains  strong,  in  summer)  it  will  have  to  be  floated  a  long  time  to 
obtain  good  results,  and  if  floated  upon  a  weak  silver  bath  (25  to  30 
grains  strong,  also  in  summer)  it  will  have  to  be  floated  a  short 
time. 

The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  A  strong  silver  bath  repels  the 
paper  at  first,  for  quite  a  number  of  seconds,  and  if  removed  from 
the  bath  before  the  paper  has  taken  to  it,  it  will  dry  in  tear-drops, 
and  when  printed  it  will  be  marbled  in  its  looks,  which  is  in  itself  a 
sure  sign  of  too  short  silvering.  If  the  paper,  when  removed  from 
the  bath,  curls  considerably,  then  that  is  another  sign  of  too  short 
silvering,  and  consequently  paper  silvered  on  a  strong  silver  bath 
should  be  silvered  for  a  longer  time  than  what  you  would  silver  the 
same  on  a  weak  bath,  and  then  the  paper  will  have  a  strong  solution 
on  it,  and  will  be  very  brilliant,  both  when  just  removed  from  the 
printing-frame  and  when  dried  and  finished ;  but  it  will  be  very 
much  bronzed  in  the  shadows.  For  weak  or  flat  negatives,  that 
paper  would  be  just  the  thing ;  while  for  medium,  i.  e.,  neither  in- 
tense nor  weak  negatives,  it  would  not,  and  for  the  intense  negative 
it  would  be  sadly  out  of  place. 

For  medium  negatives,  the  bath  for  sensitizing  the  paper  (Hovey) 
should  be  from  28  to  33  grains  strong,  of  silver  alone,  to  the  ounce 
of  water  during  the  summer ;  and  while  you  float  in  the  former  case, 
on  a  bath  of  45  grains,  from  35  to  50  seconds,  you  should  not  in  this 


92  THE  PRACTICAL  PRINTER. 

case  float  more  than  from  20  to  25  seconds.  If  you  float  the  Hovey 
paper  on  a  30  to  33-grain  bath  longer  than  25  seconds  the  paper  will 
print  "woolly,"  even  if  silvered  only  5  seconds  more  than  the  al- 
lotted time. 

The  paper  is  easily  told,  as  to  whether  it  will  print  woolly  or  not, 
by  examining  the  surface  of  the  freshly  silvered  sheet  as  soon  as  it 
is  removed  from  the  bath  ;  if  it  looks  dead  and  sunk-in  you  may  be 
assured  that  it  will  look  exactly  so  when  it  is  printed. 

The  experienced  printer,  when  he  removes  the  first  sheet  of  paper 
from  the  bath,  can  tell  whether  he  is  silvering  the  right  time  or  not 
(at  least,  very  nearly),  and  then  he  can  act  accordingly,  with  aston- 
ishing accuracy. 

There  are  often  very  bad  results  occasioned  by  having  the  silver 
solution  too  cold.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  the  winter.  Look 
out  for  it,  if  you  wish  to  avoid  trouble,  both  in  the  sensitizing  and 
working  of  the  paper. 

During  the  hot  months  of  summer  the  paper  should  be  kept  in  a 
damp  box,  for  a  day  or  so  before  it  is  silvered,  for  when  the  albumen 
on  the  paper  is  in  a  damp  state  it  will  more  readily  take  to  the  bath 
than  when  it  is  dry  and  horny.  During  the  winter  the  paper  should 
not  be  kept  in  a  hot  room  for  the  same  reason. 

TREATMENT  OF  BROKEN  NEGATIVES. 

In  many  cases,  a  negative  that  has  been  broken  can  be  mended, 
so  as  to  be  strong  enough  to  resist  all  ordinary  pressure  of  the  back- 
board while  printing,  providing  another  glass  is  first  laid  in  the 
frame  and  the  negative  laid  on  it. 

Lay  a  piece  of  cotton  flannel  on  a  level  bench  or  table,  where  there 
is  plenty  of  light,  and  match  the  broken  pieces  of  the  negative  on  it, 
face  up.  Examine  the  pieces  closely  with  a  magnifying  glass,  and 
lay  them  in  exactly  the  position  they  were  in  before  the»negative  was 
broken. 

Now  cut  strips  of  plain,  unsalted  paper,  about  an  inch  wide — no 
more  though— and  apply  melted  glue  to  one  side  of  them  ;  now  place 
the  same  side  of  the  paper  to  the  borders  of  the  negative,  permitting 
about  half  an  inch  of  the  width  to  project  out  beyond  the  glass. 

Do  this  to  all  of  the  sides  and  then  turn  them  over  the  edge,  i.  e., 
the  thickness  of  the  glass,  on  to  the  varnished  side  of  the  negative, 
and  rub  the  paper  with  a  tuft  of  cotton  in  close  contact  with  the 
glass.  The  negative,  as  it  is  now,  has  a  half-inch  strip  of  paper 
glued  to  the  four  sides  of  the  varnished  side  of  it,  and  also  a  half-inch 
strip  projecting  out  beyond  the  edges  of  the  negative,  which  has 


A   FEW   MORE   REMARKS    ABOUT   PRINTING. 


93 


glue  on  it,  but  is  not  as  yet  stuck  to  the  other  side  (Fig.  35).  When 
the  paper  is  dry,  turn  this  negative  over  and  apply  moisture  to  the 
glue  on  the  paper,  and  draw  it  tightly  yet  tenderly  over  the  edges  of 
the  glass,  and  press  it  down  smoothly  on  the  back  of  the  negative. 
Do  this  in  turn  to  all  of  the  sides,  and  then,  when  the  paper  is  dry, 
you  will  find  the  pieces  quite  strongly  held  together,  and  you  can 
move  it  about,  in  and  out  of  the  frame,  without  any  danger  of  the 
pieces  separating. 

But,  however,  if  these  strips  of  paper  do  not  hold  the  negative  suf- 
ficiently together,  as  in  some  cases  they  will  not,  then  lay  the  negative 


FIG.  35. 


FIG.  36. 


face  up  on  a  piece  of  plain  unsalted  paper,  match  it,  and  with  a 
knife  or  shears  cut  the  paper  around  the  negative,  leaving  sufficient 
of  it  on  all  sides  to  allow  it  to  turn  over,  not  too  far,  on  the  var- 
nished side,  which,  you  remember,  is  uppermost  (Fig.  36). 

Mark  with  a  lead-pencil  on  the  paper,  on  all  sides  of  the  negative, 
close  to  the  edge  of  the  paper.  Now  remove  the  negative  and  apply 
glue  to  the  side  of  the  paper  which  has  been  marked. 

Apply  evenly,  and  lay  the  pieces  of  the  negative  quickly  on  in 
their  proper  position,  before  the  glue  has  commenced  to  dry.  Bear- 
in  mind  that  the  glass  or  back  part  of  the  negative  is  laid  down  on  the 
glued  paper,  and  see  also  that  the  negative  when  placed  together 
lies  on  the  paper  as  it  did  before  you  removed  it  to  glue  the  paper, 
which  position  is  easily  told  by  the  marked  lines  on  the  paper. 

When  the  pieces  are  matched  exactly,  by  the  aid  of  a  magnifying 
glass,  then  gently  draw  the  paper  up  which  projects  out  beyond  the 
sides  of  the  negative  and  stick  them  to  the  varnished  side  of  the 
glass.  This  paper  should  not  cover  so  much  of  the  varnished  side 
as  to  cover  any  part  of  the  negative  that  is  to  come  in  the  print 
when  trimmed. 

The  negative  should  then  be  turned  over,  which  can  very  well  be 
done,  if  you  were,  in  the  first  place,  to  place  under  both  paper  and 
negative  a  whole  glass  of  the  same  size,  or  a  little  larger  if  desired, 


94  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

as  the  mended  negative  would  measure.  By  taking  hold  of  this 
under  glass  and  placing  a  couple  of  fingers  on  the  broken  negative, 
to  prevent  it  from  slipping,  you  can  easily  turn  it  over,  and  then  lay 
it  on  a  level  stand  covered  with  soft  flannel. 

Now  rub  with  a  tuft  of  cotton  the  paper  which  is  stuck  on  the 
back  of  the  negative,  commencing  at  the  middle  and  rubbing  out- 
wards, so  as  to  secure  both  perfect  contact  and  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  air-bubbles  between  the  two  surfaces. 

Let  dry,  and  you  will  have  a  negative  that  can  be  printed,  if  you 
wish,  without  another  glass  being  placed  first  in  the  frame,  and 
which  can  now  be  packed  away  as  if  unbroken. 

This  negative  having  a  thick  white  paper  on  the  back  of  it,  will 
necessarily  print  slowly,  but  if  printed  face  up  to  the  strongest  sun- 
light but  little  difference  in  the  time  of  printing  will  be  noticed. 

Medallions  or  plain  prints  can  best  be  made  from  such  a  negative, 
though  it  may  be  vignetted  by  placing  a  Waymouth  vignette-paper 
on  the  back  of  it. 

The  contraction  while  drying  of  the  expanded  paper  will  draw  the 
pieces  of  the  negative  more  firmly  together,  and  thus  secure  greater 
exactness. 


CHAPTER   XX. 
CUTTING  THE  PRINTS. 

THERE  is  no  part  of  photographic  printing  that  is  more  difficult, 
or  shows  more  the  taste,  skill,  and  worth  of  a  photographic  printer 
than  this  simple  (?)  process  (as  it  is  called  by  some]  of  "cutting  the 
prints."  Many  have  been  the  prints  that  have  been  ruined  in  the 
trimming  that  were  otherwise  good.  What  would  be  the  value  of  a 
print  that  was  brilliant  and  most  beautifully  toned  if  it  had  been 
ruined  in  cutting  ? 

I  have  often  been  surprised  that  prints,  which  are  so  beautiful  in 
other  respects,  should  be  so  abominably  cut  out  as  some  have  been  that 
I  have  seen,  when,  at  a  glance  at  the  prints,  we  could  see  that,  with 
this  exception,  the  printer  thoroughly  understood  his  business,  for 
even  upon  the  closest  examination  of  it,  before  it  was  even  burnished, 
we  could  not  see  either  weakness  or  coarseness  of  the  paper  in  the 
slightest  degree,  too  much  bronzing  in  the  shadows,  lack  of  bril- 
liancy, printed  neither  too  dark  nor  too  light,  toned  so  finely  that  we 


CUTTING   THE   PRINTS.  95 

cannot  criticize  it  a  particle,  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  print  was  a 
perfect  gem,  with  this  exception. 
We  will  pause  here  a  moment  and  consider. 

Undoubtedly  all  of  those  parts  of  this  print  which  show  workman- 
ship were  done  by  a  workman,  an  excellent  one  too  at  that,  whereas 
the  trimming,  which  certainly  does  not  show  workmanship,  was 
most  probably  not  done  by  a  workman,  but  by  one  who  was  not  well 
learned ;  most  probably  by  a  boy,  or  a  very  careless  assistant  printer. 
It  has  very  often  been  said,  and  I  myself  have  heard  the  expres- 
sion several  times,  that  "any  one  can  trim  prints  who  has  been  in  a 
printing-room  two  days  ;"  and  I  must  here  beg  leave  to  differ,  for,  on 
the  contrary,  it  takes  YEARS  instead  of  days  to  trim  them  as  they 
should  be  ;  and  it  is  owing  to  the  belief  of  many  photographers  in  the 
quotation  I  have  above  cited,  that  the  almost  inexperienced  help  is 
told  to  trim  the  prints  (so  as  to  keep  them  busy,  you  know !)  while  the 
foreman  printer  and  his  experienced  assistants  are  printing,  &c., 
with  only  this  advice  (and  often  not  that),  "to  be  sure  and  have  the 
nose  or  mouth  come  in  the  centre  of  the  print."  This  part  of  the 
work  should  be  intrusted  only  to  an  experienced  person  with  a  cor- 
rect eye  and  good  judgment  as  to  the  effect  required  in  the  finished 
picture. 

In  the.  cutting  of  the  prints  there  are  a  variety  of  rules  to  be  ob- 
served which  tend  towards  the  prints  being  properly  cut,  and,  although 
it  is  in  some  cases  almost  utterly  impossible  to  give  rules  that  will 
reach  them,  not  knowing  the  style,  &c.,  of  the  prints,  as  almost  every 
operator  poses  differently,  yet  a  very  great  number  of  cases  can  be 
hit  by  the  rules  which  will  be  given  below. 

The  implements,  &c.,  that  are  used  in  cutting  the  prints  are: 

One  large  plate  glass,  10x12  inches  in  size,  for  cutting  the 
print  upon,  and  in  case  you  cannot  obtain  a  plate  glass,  a  thick, 
level,  ordinary  glass  of  the  same  size  will  answer. 
One  whetstone. 

One  Kobinson's  Photograph  Trimmer. 
One  pair  of  large  shears. 
One  shoemaker's  knife. 

One  glass,  size  7|  x  9|  inches,  for  cutting  8  x  10  prints. 
Two  4-4  glasses,  one  6^x8^  inches,  for  ordinary  4-4  mounts, 
and  one  6x8  inches,  for  prints  that  are  to  be  mounted  on  litho- 
graphic mounts. 

One  oval  4-4  brass  mat  guide,  size  of  opening  5|x7|  inches. 
Two  Imperial  size  glasses,  one  4  x  5f  inches,  which  is  the  size 
generally  used,  and  one  4£  x  6  inches,  which  is  used  when  an  Im- 
perial glass  is  wanted  a  little  larger  for  special  cases. 


96  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

One  Yictoria  glass,  size  2f  x  4£  inches. 

Two  cartes  de  visile  glasses,  one  2^  x  3f  inches,  which  is  the 

ordinary  size,  and  one  21  x  3|  inches,  which  is  made  larger  for 

the  same  reason  as  the  Imperial.     When  the  latter  glass  is  used 

the  prints  should  have  been  printed  upon  large  card  pieces,  as 

the  pieces  that  are  obtained,  as  has  been  shown  on  a  previous 

page,  are  a  trifle  small  for  the  last-named  glass.     If  printers 

wish  to  obtain  a  great  number  of  small  card  pieces  from  a  sheet 

of  paper,  they  will  then  have  to  have  their  card-glasses  shorter. 

Have  places  for  these  things,  and   always  keep  them  in  their 

places,  except,  of  course,  when  in  use.     Prints  larger  than  8x10 

inches  are  very  seldom  cut,  either  before  finishing  or  after,  for  they 

are  mounted  upon  plain  "No.  1  Extra"  cardboard,  size  of  said 

cardboard  varying  according  to  the  intended  size  of  the  prints,  and 

covered  with  either  oval,  square,  or  arch-top  mats,  and  framed  with 

the  mats  placed  next  to  them. 

Although  these  large  prints  are  not  cut  to  any  particular  size 
before  toning,  they  are  trimmed  and  their  edges  cut  cleanly,  so  that 
they  will  not  be  so  likely  to  tear,  in  the  water,  during  the  future 
operations  which  they  are  destined  to  go  through. 

In  many  galleries  the  4-4  prints  are  not  cut  to  any  particular  size, 
but  trimmed  as  the  larger  prints  are,  and  mats  are  also  placed  over 
them  when  they  are  about  to  be  framed. 

Considerable  saving  can  be  made,  as  regards  the  expense  of  a  mat 
every  time  a  print  is  framed,  if  the  prints  are  cut  to  the  exact  size 
and  style  before  toning,  as  is  the  case  in  regard  to  the  common  carte. 
For  instance :  If  you  were  to  cut  your  4-4  prints  either  oval  or 
square  before  toning,  the  prints  could  then  be  mounted  upon  your 
4-4  cardboard,  which  was  prepared  for  it.  and,  as  will  be  shown  below, 
you  can  save  considerable  money  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two  by 
so  doing,  of  course  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  according  to  the 
amount  of  business  the  photographer  has. 

To  do  this,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  have  mounts  prepared  espe- 
cially for  the  purpose,  for  if  the  prints  were  mounted  upon  the  plain 
cardboard,  and  no  mat  placed  over  them  when  framed,  the  effect 
would  not  be  at  all  pleasing. 

In  many  galleries  the  prints  are  cut  as  described  above,  a'nd 
mounted  upon  cardboard  ornamented  with  gilt  stripes,  in  the  oval 
and  square  forms,  inside  of  which  forms  the  prints  are  carefully 
mounted. 

Below  the  mounted  photograph  the  photographer  has  his  name 
printed  in  small  gilt  letters.  A  print  cut  oval  and  mounted  upon 
one  of  the  oval  mounts  has  the  appearance  of  having  an  oval  mat 


CUTTING   THE   PRINTS.  97 

over  it,  with  the  advantage  of  having  your  name  printed  on  it.  A 
great  objection  to  this  is  that  of  having  to  choose  the  frame  at  the 
time  of  making  your  choice  of  picture,  so  that  the  check  can  be 
made  out  properly,  thus  enabling  the  operator  to  mark  on  the  nega- 
tive either  square  or  oval,  which  means  to  cut  the  4-4  print  square 
or  oval,  according  to  what  is  marked  on  said  negative. 

For  instance,  a  lady  wanted  a  4-4  arch-top,  and  on  choosing  the 
frame  at  the  time  she  decided  on  the  style  of  print ;  she  chose  a 
square  one,  and  the  check  being  made  out  properly  (having  all  the 
particulars  on  it),  and  being  passed  to  the  operator  when  she  entered 
his  domain,  he  reserved  his  part  of  it,  and  sat  her  according  to 
orders  upon  it,  and  marked  the  negative  as  per  check :  One  4-4 
Arch-Top,  No.  —  (of  negative).  Often  the  words,  cut  square,  are 
placed  on  the  negative  ;  but  in  this  case,  when  the  style  is  an  arch- 
top,  it  is  not  necessary,  because  the  print  cannot,  with  taste,  be  cut 
any  other  way. 

When  the  print  is  to  be  mounted  upon  a  lithographic  mount,  the 
operator  marks  on  the  negative  L.  M..  and  then  the  printer  also 
marks  the  same  letters  on  the  back  of  the  print  before  it  is  toned, 
being  sure  in  doing  so  that  he  marks  in  the  shadow  or  drapery  part 
of  the  said  print,  and  the  mounter,  as  she  pastes  the  print,  sees  the 
marks,  and  consequently  mounts  such  prints  upon  the  lithographic 
mounts. 

If  the  lady  had  chosen  an  oval  frame,  she  would  have  to  have  a 
vignette  style  of  print  to  look  well,  and  the  negative  should  then  be 
marked  (also  as1  per  check) :  One  4-4  Yig.,  No.  —  (of  negative),  cut 
oval.  Of  course  prints  that  are  printed  either  in  medallion,  square, 
or  arch  should  be  cut  square,  except  in  a  few  cases  when  the  prints 
are  printed  plain  ;  then  they  can  sometimes  be  cut  in  the  oval  form 
if  desired. 

To  those  photographers  who  are  not  in  the  habit  of  this  mode  of 
working  the  above  may  appear  to  be  very  complicated,  but  it  is  so 
arranged  in  every  well-regulated  gallery,  and  where  there  is  perfect 
system  throughout  the  establishment.  It  is  one  of  the  most  perfect 
ways,  as  regards  system,  connected  with  the  orders,  that  there  is 
known,  and  it  is  very  seldom  any  mistake  occurs  when  once  the  plan 
is  in  good  working  order. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  this  would  cause  trouble  when  dupli- 
cates are  wanted  from  the  negatives,  but  that  is  not  so,  for  when 
duplicates  are  ordered  from  frame-photographs  (i.  e.,  those  photo- 
graphs which  are  to  be  framed),  the  patrons  almost  invariably  order 
the  same  style  of  frame  and  print  that  was  before  purchased,  and 
the  printer  is  thus  greatly  benefited,  because  he  knows  how  to  print 
every  duplicate  that  is  ordered  from  "old  negatives,"  and  when 


98  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

there  should  happen  to  be  a  variation  in  the  style  of  frame  and 

print,  the  thinking  photographer  will  readily  invent  some  way  to 

prevent  mistakes. 
The  above,  however,  is  calculated  to  be  followed  out.  by  those 

photographers  whose  customers  make  their  selection  as  to  how 

they  want  everything  done,  but  when,  as  in  the  gallery  of  Mr. 

Sarony,  and  also  of  Mr.  Howell  of  New  York,  the  photographic  artist 

chooses  the  style  best  suited  for  them,  &c.,  and  the  printers  print 

the  order  as  they  think  best,  no  such  way  is  required,  and  a  more 

simple  manner  will  answer. 
When  the  prints  are  to  be  cut  in  an  oval  form,  the  excellent  tool 

known  as  the  Robinson  Photograph  Trimmer  is  indispensable.  (See 
Tig.  37.)  It  does  its  work  so  quickly  and  so  well, 
that  no  one  can  estimate  it  too  highly.  It  will  out- 
wear a  gross  of  knives,  and  does  its  work  better, 
without  tearing  the  prints.  Guides  that  can  be  used 
with  it  are  furnished  at  a  trifling  cost. 

This  trimmer,  by  the  way,  is  also  an  excellent 
thing  to  use  in  cutting  medallions  and  masks  when- 
ever you  may  wish  to  make  them. 

When  you  are  about  to  cut  square  8  x  10  prints 
the  plate-glass  is  first  laid  down  on  a  level  bench 
and  the  print  on  it,  and  upon  the  print  is  laid  the 
glass  that  is  used  in  cutting  the  print.  Adjust  this 
latter  glass,  and  with  the  shoeknife  cut  a  quick  and 
clean  cut  on  all  sides  of  and  close*  to  it.  If  you 
choose  you  can  cut  the  other  sized  prints,  such  as  the 
Imperial  and  Victoria,  by  the  aid  of  the  shoeknife 
and  the  proper  glasses.  I  have  recommended  a  shoe- 
knife  because  it  is  cheap,  costing  only  about -twenty 
cents ;  then  again,  it  is  better  handled  than  a  pen- 
knife. 

When  cutting  with  the  glass  and  knife  place  two 
or  three  fingers  of  the  left  hand  firmly  yet  lightly 

upon  the  glass,  and  cut  with  the  knife  in  the  right  hand,  cutting 

around  the  glass,  shifting  the  elbows  a  little  to  one  side  or  the  other 

as  occasion  requires.  (See  Fig.  38.) 

The  Robinson  Trimmer  will  also  answer  for  cutting  square  prints 

with  a  very  slight  round  corner. 

There  are  a  great  many  printers  who  use  the  knife  altogether 

in  the  cutting  of  the  prints,  and  then  again  there  'are  many  who 

use  the  shears. 

I  generally  use  the  shears  for  cartes  and  Imperials,  but  for  larger 

prints  I  use  the  knife. 


CUTTING   THE   PRINTS. 


99 


It  may  appear  to  be  a  small  matter  for  me  to  write  here  how  you 
should  use  your  glass  and  shears  in  cutting,  yet  there  is  one  thing 


FIG. 


which  if  observed  will  save  your  cutting  glasses,  and  also  save  your 
shears  from  getting  dull  so  quickly  ;  it  is  this  : 

Many  persons  in  using  the  shears  cut  down  at  the  lower  part  of 
the  glass  at  an  angle,  so  that  the  blades  of  the  shears  run  along  the 
edges  of  the  bottom  part  of  the  glass-guide,  and  consequently  the 
glass  is  very  soon  nicky,  and  in  a  short  time  some  of  the  corners 
are  broken  off,  and  the  glass  is  worthless. 

Now  this  is  owing  to  the  style  of  cutting  (or  chopping]  with  the 
shears,  because  every  time  you  cut  a  print  you  also  cut  the  glass, 
or  try  to. 

You  should  allow  the  blades  of  the  shears  to  fall  parallel  to  that 
side  of  the  glass  at  which  you  may  be  cutting  (see  Fig.  39),  and  you 
will  save  your  glasses,  and  also  prevent  the  shears  from  getting  dull 
so  quickly. 

The  rules  which  will  perhaps  help  the  beginner  in  cutting  the 
prints  are  the  following  : 

1st.  Never  have  the  nose  or  chin  higher  than  the  middle  of  the 
print,  if  the  head  is  of  an  ordinary  size,  and  the  print  is  printed 
plain. 

2d.  Allow  a  trifle  more  space  on  that  side  of  the  print  toward 
which  the  head  is  turned,  being  careful  not  to  allow  too  much,  how- 
ever, as  very  often  the  shoulders  suffer  by  the  abuse  of  this  rule. 

3d.  If  the  print  is  to  be  a  carte  de  visite,  and  the  head  is  very  large, 
it  ought  to  be  cut  higher  up  in  the  print  than  otherwise,  so  as  to 
obtain  plenty  of  the  body  to  balance  the  head. 

4th.  In  cutting  out  a  print,  when  the  figure  is  leaning  on  a  table, 
chair,  &c.,  always  cut  in  enough  of  the  accessory  to  give  an  air  or 
look  of  solidity  to  the  base  of  the  print. 

5th.  Always  lay  your  glass,  when  you  are  about  to  trim  the  prints, 


100  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

in  the  same  direction  as  the  body  is,  providing  it  is  not  leaning  on  a 
table,  for  then,  of  course,  you  must  represent  the  idea  of  leaning, 
but  when  there  is  no  such  idea  to  be  conveyed  then  trim  as  before 
said,  so  that  the  body  will  not  appear  to  be  leaning  too  far  forward 
or  backward,  and  thus  give  the  beholder  the  idea  of  falling, 

6th.  Sometimes  by  cutting  the  print  so  that  the  person  will  appear 
to  be  leaning  slightly  backward,  the  effect  is  very  good,  providing 
the  figure  is  that  of  a  large  Berlin  head.  Look  out  that  you  do  not 
overdo  this,  however. 

7th.  If  the  print  is  printed  in  a  medallion  or  arch-top  you  should 
cut  it  so  that  there  will  be  as  much  of  the  tinted  border  show  on 
one  side  as  there  is  on  the  other,  and  as  much  at  the  top  as  there 
is  at  the  bottom,  and  always  cut  prints  that  are  printed  in  either  of 
these  styles  in  the  direction  that  the  oval  or  arch-top  may  be,  and 
never  cut  them  so  that  the  cut  and  the  oval  or  arch-top  will  lay  in 
different  directions.  To  do  this  you  must  be  sure,  in  placing  on  the 
oval  or  arch-top  for  printing,  that  you  get  them  to  lay  in  the  right 
direction. 

8th.  If  the  figure  is  a  standing  one,  and  the  whole  of  it  can  be  cut 
in  the  print,  then  do  so,  and  not  cut  in  only  part  of  it,  as  is  very 
often  done. 

9th.  If  it  is  a  sitting  two-thirds  figure,  then  do  not  think  of  such 
a  thing  as  having  the  nose  or  chin  come  in  the  centre  of  the  print, 
as  per  Kule  1st,  but  have  it  come  considerably  higher  up  in  the 
print,  being  careful,  however,  that  you  do  not  get  it  too  high. 

10th.  Sometimes  there  are  groups  of  two,  three,  four,  or  even  five 
persons  in  a  carte  de  visite  photograph,  and,  in  cutting  out  these  kind 
of  prints,  be  sure  that  sufficient  of  the  drapery  on  either  side  is  cut 
in,  as  the  neglect  of  that  will  make  these  outside  persons  appear 
very  slender,  being  no  balance  to  the  figures  ;  and,  for  such  cases  as 
these,  either  in  the  small  card  or  the  Imperial,  we  have  made  the 
larger  glasses  to  cut  with  as  described  above. 

llth.  If  the  figure  is  a  standing  one  of  a  lady  (a  bride),  with  a. 
long-trail  dress,  and  leaning  on  a  chair,  then  in  cutting,  not  only 
cut  the  print  so  that  you  will  give  the  idea  of  leaning  on  the  chair, 
but  cut  a  very  great  portion  of  the  dress  in,  even  if  the  figure  of  the 
lady  herself  is  over  to  one  side  of  the  print,  for  the  face  is  turned 
(or  should  be)  towards  that  direction,  and  you  can  trim  as  above, 
without  danger  of  hurting  the  looks  of  the  print,  for,  on  the  con- 
trary, you  will  greatly  improve  it. 

12th.  When  the  background  of  the  print  is  one  that  shows  inte- 
riors or  exteriors,  such  as  the  panels  of  doors,  or  a  set  of  perpendicular 
rows  of  columns,  &c.,  always  cut  the  prints  so  that  these  uprights 


WASHING   THIS   FEINTS; 


will  be  parallel  to  the  sides  of  the  trimmed  print,  and  the  cross- 
panels  parallel  to  the  base  of  it.  This  kind  of  a  background  is  more 
often  found  in  the  large  prints,  more  especially  so  when  the  "  Ben- 
dann  Backgrounds  '  '  are  used. 

13th.  In  standing  figures,  very  often  the  place  where  the  floor 
meets  the  background  comes  in  sight  when  the  print  is  trimmed, 
and  in  such  cases  you  should  always  cut  the  flooring  parallel  to  this 
line  ;  and,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  if  the  position  is  properly 
made,  the  figure  will  lean  in  the  proper  direction  by  the  observation 
of  this  simple  rule. 

14th.  Do  not,  when  cutting  prints,  try  to  see  how  quick  you  can 
cut  them,  but  how  well,  for  a  dozen  well-trimmed  prints  are  worth 
more  than  a  hundred  indifferent  ones.  First  try  and  see  how  well, 
and  then,  after  you  have  learned  that,  then  see  how  quickly  you  can 
cut  them. 

The  advice  and  instruction  which  we  have  endeavored  humbly  to 
give  in  this  chapter,  is  intended  for  those  persons  whose  experience 
at  printing  has  not  been  so  extended  as  ours,  and  it  is  emphatically 
for  such  persons  that  we  have  written  the  above,  and  not  for  learned 
printers. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
WASHING   THE  PRINTS/ 

NEXT,  in  order,  comes  the  washing  of  the  prints,  although  in 
many  galleries  the  acidifying  of  them  is  done  first. 

It  is  a  question  whether  it  is  best  to  place  the  prints  first  in  the 
acid  water  or  not,  and  there  are  many  photographers  that  believe 
in  washing  them  first ;  and  then,  again,  there  are  many  that  believe 
to  the  contrary.  It  is  not  in  my  mind  a  matter  of  so  much  impor- 
tance, but  for  several  reasons  I  am  most  in  favor  of  washing  them 
first ;  and  so  I  will  commence  with  the  washing,  and  then,  in  the 
next  chapter,  the  acidifying  of  them  will  be  treated  of. 

It  was  supposed  by  many  photographers,  two  or  three  years  ago, 
that  the  washing  of  the  prints  was  a  matter  of  considerable  time, 
and  consequently  they  would  let  their  prints  wash  half  an  hour  in 
running  water,  moving  them  occasionally  with  the  hands. 

Within  the  last  year  or  two,  however,  the  photographic  printers 
have  found  out  that  such  long  washing  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but 


102 


E    P^AGTfCAL   PRINTER. 


injurious  to  the  prints  ;  and  at  the  present  day,  in  many  of  our  first- 
class  galleries,  this  preliminary  washing  is  done  in  a  few  minutes. 

The  way  we  should  advise  our  brother  printer  to  wash  his  prints 
is  as  follows : 

Take  a  half-sheet  dish,  although  any  other,  if  large  enough,  would 
do  as  well,  and  pour  into  it  lukewarm  water,  until  the  dish  is  about 
one-quarter  full.  Now  place  the  prints  in,  by  letting  a  few  drop 
out  of  your  left  hand  at  a  time  into  the  dish,  while,  with  your  right, 
you  gently  and  quickly  push  them  under  the  water,  until  you 
have  placed  the  whole  batch  of  prints  in  the  bath.  Again,  do  this 
as  quickly  as  possible. 

I  have  recommended  to  let  a  few  (three  or  four)  drop  from  the 
hand  at  a  time  in  the  water,  because  beginners  are  apt  to  get  some 
of  the  prints  wet  (and  let  them  stay  in  the  hand  for  some  time  in 
that  condition  before  they  are  placed  in  the  water),  if  they  were  to 
take  them  from  the  left  hand  with  the  right  one,  and  then  place 
them  in  the  water,  as  they  might  want.  By  being  very  careful, 
however,  they  can  do  it. 

The  objection  to  getting  the  prints  partly  wet,  and  then  remain- 
ing in  that  state,  even  for  a  few  seconds  (say  eight  or  ten  seconds), 
before  they  are  wholly  submerged  in  the  water,  is,  that  where  the 
water  has  touched  them,  they  will  turn  red ;  and  if  they  are  thus 
partly  wet  by  the  water,  then,  after  you  have  placed  them  in  the 
dish,  they  will  show  spots  redder  than  the  other  parts  of  the  prints, 
which  will  sometimes  be  very  troublesome  in  the  succeeding  opera- 
tions. 

After  the  whole  batch  of  prints  that  are  to  be  toned  are  placed  in 
this  bath  of  warm  water,  move  them  about  briskly  for  about  five 
minutes,  and  then  gently  pour  the  water  off  into  a  barrel,  leaving 
the  prints  to  lay  flat  on  the  bottom  of  the  dish.  Then  rinse  them 
with  a  little  more  water,  and  pour  this  also  into  the  barrel. 

These  first  two  waters  we  save,  and  throw  down  the  silver  in  them, 
by  sprinkling  a  little  common  salt  in  the  contents  of  the  barrel,  upon 
the  addition  of  which  the  silver  in  the  solution  will  be  deposited  on 
the  bottom  in  the  form  of  chloride  of  silver.  Upon  adding  salt  to 
the  solution,  it  will  turn  milky  ;  whereas,  before  it  was  added,  the 
solution  was  of  a  cold  slaty  color.  When  this  chloride  of  silver  is 
thoroughly  deposited,  then  draw  off  the  clear  water  by  either  a 
siphon  or  a  faucet,  as  may  suit  the  taste  of  the  printer. 

Before  taking  for  granted  that  the  silver  in  the  solution  is  all 
precipitated,  because  you  have  previously  sprinkled  salt  in  the 
barrel,  the  solution  should  again  be  tested,  by  a  pinch  or  two  of 
salt,  and  if  there  is  no  more  precipitate,  then  the  silver  is  all 


ACIDIFYING   THE   PRINTS.  103 

precipitated,  and  the  liquid  can  be  drawn  off  without  any  further 
delay. 

When  you  have  rinsed  the  prints,  wash  in  one  or  two  other 
changes  of  water,  which  you  need  not  save,  and  then  they  are  ready 
to  be  placed  in  the  acidulated  water,  which  will  be  treated  of  in  the 
next  chapter. 

When  the  prints  are  in  the  first  change  of  water,  the  washing  is 
done  quickly,  by  permitting  them  to  come  to  the  surface,  and  then 
gently  pushing  them  down  again  to  the  bottom.  The  prints  are 
washed  more  thoroughly  and  quickly  in  this  way  than  in  any  other. 
The  time  required  to  do  the  above  washing,  after  the  whole  batch 
of  prints  are  placed  in  the  bath,  is  only  from  five  to  ten  minutes. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
ACIDIFYING   THE  FEINTS. 


,  since  the  prints  are  sufficiently  washed,  they  are  ready  to 
be  placed  into  the  acid  water  ;  but,  before  we  do  so,  we  will  pause 
and  consider  for  a  few  minutes  the  object  of  doing  this. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  many  printers,  and  in  fact  that  is  the 
general  opinion  at  the  present  day,  that  the  prints  are  placed  in  this 
bath  of  slightly  acid  water  for  the  simple  purpose  of  making  them 
red!,  so  that  they  will  be  able  to  watch  the  toning,  and  also  to  tone 
them  better.  Now  this  is  partly  so,  but  it  is  by  no  means  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  placing  them  in  the  bath,  as  we  will  presently  en- 
deavor to  show. 

If  our  only  object  in  placing  the  prints  in  this  bath  w;as  to  make 
them  simply  red,  why  should  we  not,  as  was  formerly  done,  place 
them  in  a  bath  of  salt  water,  and  thus  redden  them,  as  it  will  do  the 
work  as  quickly,  if  not  quicker,  than  the  acetic  acid  does,  besides 
being  very  much  cheaper  ? 

The  answer  from  some  of  these  printers  may  be  that  they  cannot 
obtain  such  nice  tones  as  they  could  if  the  prints  were  "red  up  " 
with  acetic  acid  ;  and,  if  that  is  so,  is  it  not  evident  that  there  is 
something  in  the  action  of  the  acetic  acid  on  the  prints  that  renders 
them  better  for  the  toning  operation  than  the  action  of  the  salt  on 
them  does  V 

The  action  of  the  salt  water  on  the  prints  converts  the  remaining 


104  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER.         , 

silver  left  in  the  prints  after  washing  into  the  pure  chloride  of  silver; 
whereas,  before,  part  of  the  silver  on  the  surface  of  the  prints  was 
the  chloride,  albuminate,  and  the  nitrate,  for  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  "  that  the  salt  in  the  paper,  when  it  is  floated  upon  the  posi- 
tive bath,  takes  up  the  silver  it  needs,  and  forms  chloride  of  silver," 
which  is  more  sensitive  to  the  light  than  the  nitrate,  "and  the  albu- 
men of  the  paper  takes  up  some,  and  forms  the  albuminate  of  silver ;" 
and,  besides  this,  "there  is  some  more  absorbed  merely  mechanic- 
ally," which  is  properly  the  nitrate. 

(Our  attention  was  first  called  to  the  fact  we  have  just  explained 
upon  reading,  a  couple  of  years  or  so  ago,  the  action  of  the  positive 
bath  on  the  albumen  paper,  when  floated  upon  it,  in  Dr.  Yogel's 
Handbook  of  Photography. ) 

Thus  you  see  that  all  of  the  silver  that  was  on  the  surface  in  dif- 
ferent forms  is  now  reduced  to  the  same  form,  viz.,  pure  chloride  of 
silver. 

Now  if  you  were  to  place  the  prints  in  a  very  diluted  bath  of 
acetic  acid  instead  of  salt,  then  the  remaining  silver  in  them  will 
be  perfectly  converted  into  the  acetate  of  silver,  if  they  are  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  the  bath  long  enough  for  the  acid  to  overcome 
the  other  natures  of  the  silver,  and  that  is  why  I  have  below  recom- 
mended the  prints  to  remain  in  the  acid  water  ten  minutes,  for  the 
acid  to  do  its  work  well,  and  that  is  also  the  reason  why  (if  the 
prints  stick  together  for  any  length  of  time),  even  if  they  have  once 
been  wet  all  over  with  the  acid  water,  the  prints  at  those  parts  where 
they  had  laid  close  together  will  not  be  properly  converted  into  the 
acetate  of  silver,  and  will  not  tone  well,  although  they  may  not 
have  changed  color  any,  i.  e.,  those  parts  of  the  prints  which  may  be 
stuck  together  will  be  full  as  red  as  the  rest  of  the  prints,  and  thus 
to  a  careless  eye  may  be  all  right,  but  in  the  toning  of  them,  the 
printer  will  perhaps  wonder  what  makes  some  of  them  tone  so  much 
better  than  others,  although  in  the  distribution  of  color  on  the  sur- 
face they  seem  to  be  all  alike. 

The  acetate  of  silver  is  worked  upon  better  by  the  toning  solution 
than  either  the  chloride  of  silver  or  the  mixture  that  composed  the 
silver  on  the  prints  before  they  were  placed  in  the  acid  or  salt  water 
(being  chloride,  albuminate,  and  nitrate). 

The  proof  of  the  above  can  be  observed  by  the  toner  as  he  tones 
the  prints  that  have  been  "  red  up  "  in  either  the  salt  or  acid  water  ; 
and  then  again  as  he  tones  those  which  have  not  been  "  red  up  "  at 
all,  but  simply  washed. 

I  do  not  mean  to  give  the  young  beginner  the  impression,  how- 
ever, that  prints  that  have  been  placed  in  the  salt  water,  in  lieu  of 


ACIDIFYING   THE   PRINTS.  105 

the  acid  water,  will  tone  badly  in  the  toning  baths,  for,  on  the  con- 
trary, they  will  tone  very  fairly,  as  the  good  old-fashioned  tone 
(good  if  it  is  old)  will  show,  but  I  do  mean  to  say  that  better  tones 
can  be  obtained  with  the  use  of  the  acid  water,  provided  the  condi- 
tions are  alike.  An  excellent  toner  may  take  prints  that  have  been 
placed  in  salt  water  and  obtain  better  results  than  an  indifferent 
toner  would  with  prints  that  have  been  placed  in  acid  water. 

The  quantity  of  the  acetic  acid  required  is  just  sufficient  to  prop- 
erly convert  the  remaining  silver  in  the  prints  into  acetate  of  silver, 
as  has  been  said  before,  and  no  more.  I  use  generally  about  an 
ounce  of  the  acid  to  the  gallon  of  lukewarm  water.  I  use  lukewarm 
water  because  it  will  more  quickly  do  the  work  required  than  cold 
water. 

In  Germany  and  England  glacial  acetic  acid  is  used,  but  when 
that  is  used  only  the  slightest  quantity  is  required,  as  it  is  very 
much  stronger  than  the  acetic  acid  No.  8.  This  acid  (glacial  acetic) 
is  not  used  at  all,  I  think,  in  this  country,  and  when  the  acetic  No.  8 
can  be  obtained  it  had  better  be  used,  as  the  glacial  is  very  expen- 
sive, more  so  than  it  is  proportionally  stronger. 

When  you  commence  to  make  your  acid  bath,  place  the  lukewarm 
water  first  in  the  dish  you  are  going  to  use,  and,  after  measuring 
out  the  quantity  of  the  acid  in  a  small  vial,  pour  it  into  the  water 
at  different  places,  and  then,  with  your  hand,  stir  the  water  well  for 
about  one  minute,  so  as  to  get  the  acid  thoroughly  mixed  with  the 
water.  Now  place  the  prints  into  this  bath  as  quickly  as  possible, 
in  the  manner  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  i.  e.,  by  permit- 
ting two  or  three  to  fall  at  a  time  from  the  left  hand,  while  with  the 
right  they  are  separated  as  quickly  as  possible. 

When  you  have  placed  every  print  in  the  acid  water,  then  keep 
them  in  constant  motion  for  ten  minutes,  for  the  reason  above  men- 
tioned (viz.,  that  the  silver  in  the  paper  will  be  equally  converted 
into  the  acetate  of  silver),  and  then  pour  off  the  acid  water  and  save 
it  (for  this  acid  water  has  released  still  more  silver  from  the  prints), 
and  then  wash  the  prints  in  three  or  four  more  changes  of  water,  so 
as  to  remove  the  bad  smell  of  acetic  acid  from  them.  It  is  very 
necessary  that  the  prints  be  washed  well  after  acidifying,  because,  if 
the  superfluous  acid  water  is  not  well  washed  from  them,/a£se,  de- 
ceiving tones  will  be  obtained  in  the  toning  bath,  which  will  in  a 
great  measure  be  destroyed  in  the  further  operations  with  the  prints. 
The  tone  will  be  a  superficial  and  uneven  one.  The  prints  are  finally 
sufficiently  washed  for  the  toning  operations  when,  upon  smelling 
them,  there  is  only  a  very  slight  vapor  of  the  acetic  acid  given 
forth. 


106  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
TONING  BATHS. 

OF  all  parts  of  photographic  printing  this  is  undoubtedly  the 
most  important  and  difficult,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the 
printing  bath. 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  toning  baths  in  use,  a  great  propor- 
tion of  which  are  excellent  for  certain  cases.  We  shall  here  give  our 
own  humble  thoughts  or  ideas,  in  the  making  and  care  of  the  differ- 
ent toning  baths,  with  such  quotations  as  may  be  found  necessary, 
from  others  probably  far  more  skilled  in  this  branch  than  the  author 
may  be. 

Before  proceeding  further,  I  will  explain  to  the  beginner  the  rea- 
son why  there  is  such  a  bath,  called  "  the  toning  bath,"  used. 

The  prints,  as  they  were  left  in  the  last  chapter,  need  some  agent 
to  remove  the  silver  left  in  them,  else  they  would  continue  to  darken 
upon  exposure  to  the  light,  and  in  a  short  time  be  so  dark  as  to  be 
indistinguishable.  This  agent  is  known  by  the  name  of  hyposul- 
phite of  sodium.  If  we  were  to  place  the  prints  as  they  are  now 
directly  into  the  soda  solution,  they  would  turn  a  dirty  yellow  color, 
to  get  rid  of  which  and  give  a  more  pleasing  one  a  bath  called,  as 
before  said,  "the  toning  bath,"  is  made. 

Hence,  then,  the  object  of  the  toning  bath  is  to  give  partly  per- 
manence, but  principally  to  give  the  color  or  tone  to  the  prints, 
and  in  this  color  we  may  expect  to  find  brilliancy  and  beauty,  ac- 
cording as  to  how  the  prints  were  treated  while  in  the  bath,  as  will 
be  shown  in  the  next  chapter. 

In  the  first  place,  good  chloride  of  gold  is  necessary  in  the  making 
of  these  toning  baths,  and  to  those  persons  who  do  not  wish  to 
make  their  chloride  of  gold  for  themselves,  among  whom  the  young 
beginner  should  certainly  be  classed,  I  would  advise  them  to  pur- 
chase a  stock  from  some  reliable  stockdealer.  Each  bottle  contains 
fifteen  grains,  which  may  be  dissolved  in  a  bottle  containing  fifteen 
ounces  of  pure  filtered  rain  or  distilled  water. 

Label  this  bottle,  "  Stock  Gold  Solulion,  1  grain  to  the  ounce  of 
Water."  This  solution  will  be  slightly  acid,  which  it  should  be  to 
prevent  the  light  from  precipitating  the  gold.  Keep  this  bottle  in 
,the  dark,  or  at  least  out  of  the  brightest  diffused  light. 


TONING   BATHS.  107 


ACETATE  OF  SODA  BATH, 

As  made  and  recommended  by  Mr.  George  Hooper,  in  the  British 
Journal  Photographic  Almanac  for  1873,  I  will  here  give,  judging  it 
to  be  excellent.  He  gives  preference  to  the  bath  made  as  described 
below,  for  the  following  reasons,  viz. : 

"  1.  For  the  beauty  and  permanency  of  its  tones. 

"2.  For  simplicity  of  formula. 

"  3.  For  its  great  economy. 

"  4.  For  its  certainty  and  regularity." 

The  bath  is  made  as  follows  : 

"  Always  keep  in  stock  the  following  solutions  : 

"  Solution  No.  1.— Dissolve  a  quarter  of  a  drachm  of  chloride  of 
gold  in  fifteen  ounces  of  water. 

"Solution  No.  2. — Dissolve  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  acetate  of 
soda  in  forty-eight  ounces  of  water. 

"  To  make  the  bath,  take  of 

Water, 30  ounces. 

"  Then  add 

Solution  No.  1, 3  ounces. 

"And  next  add 

Solution  No.  2, 3  ounces. 

"Let  stand  a  whole  week  before  using ;  if  wanted  sooner,  make  it 
with  hot  water.  This  bath  will  tone  day  after  day  until  at  least 
four  sheets  have  been  toned,  and  when  apparently  exhausted,  throw 
away  say  six  or  ten  ounces  of  it,  and  add  a  similar  quantity  of  fresh 
bath,  made  according  to  the  same  formula,  taking  care  its  age  is  not 
less  than  one  week,  as  the  acetate  bath  goes  on  improving,  and  if 
used  too  new  would  tone  unevenly,  and  the  prints  would  lack  that 
brilliancy  so  easily  obtained  when  the  bath  is  of  the  proper  age. 

"Always  take  the  prints  out  when  of  a,  purplish-brown,  but  never 
at  the  rusty  brown  stage. 

"If  the  washing  has  been  carefully  done,  you  will  find  that  nearly 
all  of  the  batch  will  be  finished  about  the  same  time,  vignetted  por- 
traits first,  and  then  the  plain  portraits,  which  latter  always  take 
up  a  larger  proportion  of  gold. 

"When  the  toning  is  finished,  pour  your  bath  back  into  the  jug 
or  bottle  and  keep  the  same  for  next  time.  Should  there  be  a  slight 
deposit  of  chloride  at  the  bottom,  decant  carefully  so  as  not  to 
disturb  it;  this  will  save  all  filterings,  which  are  always  better 
avoided." 


108  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


SAL  SODA  TONING  BATH. 

Distilled  or  Melted  Ice-water,  .  .  .  .64  ounces. 
Acid  Sol.  Chloride  of  Gold  (4  grs.  to  the  ounce),  1  ounce. 
Sat.  Sol.  Sal  Soda •  •  H  ounce. 

The  bath  feels  quite  slippery  to  the  fingers.  Make  it  a  full  half 
hour  before  you  wish  to  use  it,  and  during  the  cold  weather  make 
it  with  the  water  slightly  warm.  Make  it  every  night  and  save 
the  old  solution,  and  throw  down  the  gold  with  protosulphite  of 
iron. 

This  bath  bleaches  a  little  more  than  baths  generally  do,  and  so 
the  prints  should  be  printed  quite  dark.  The  prints  when  first 
placed  in  this  bath  will  turn  quite  red  after  a  minute  or  two,  and 
after  they  have  discontinued  turning  red  watch  them  closely,  for 
they  will  now  very  soon  commence  to  tone  so  that  you  will  readily 
notice  it,  and  when  they  have  once  commenced  to  border  on  the 
tone  you  desire  they  will  very  quickly  arrive  at  the  proper  stage. 

In  toning  disregard  the  shadows ,  but  watch  the  high-lights  and  half- 
tones of  the  face,  and  when  they  just  commence  to  look  purplish,  and  the 
red  look  has  disappeared,  they  are  toned,  and  should  be  immediately 
removed  to  a  dish  of  running  water.  The  hair,  draperies,  &c.,  may 
not  look  to  be  toned,  but  they  are. 

When  you  are  fixing  these  prints  they  will  turn  a  variety  of  colors 
before  they  turn  the  right  one,  and  when  they  turn  that  color,  to 
which  you  toned  them,  you  may  be  sure  they  are  fixed.  See  the 
chapter  on  Fixing  the  Prints. 

CHLORIDE  OF  LIME  BATH. 

With  this  bath  pure  whites  and  fine  blacks  can  be  obtained  ;  such 
effects  as  are  suitable  for  architectural  drawings,  pencil  sketches,  &c. 
It  should  be  made  forty-eight  hours  before  use,  and  when  about  to 
use  it  add  a  little  of  the  gold  solution,  also  a  little  of  the  chloride  of 
lime. 

There  is  considerable  fault  found  with  this,  both  on  account  of 
the  uncertainty  of  its  composition  and  also  with  the  various  results 
obtained  with  it. 

That  is  owing  to  the  photographer's  using  what  is  called  the  satu- 
rated solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime,  when  in  many  cases  the  solu- 
tion is  far  short  of  being  saturated.  When  you  commence  to  make 
a  saturated  solution  of  this  chloride  of  lime,  and  have  placed  nearly 
two  ounces  of  the  chloride  in  about  twenty-five  ounces  of  water, 
there  will  be  a  precipitate  in  the  bottle  which  will  make  you  think 


TONING   BATHS.  109 

• 

that  the  solution  is  saturated*  since  it  will  not  dissolve  upon  repeated 
shaking  of  the  contents,  but  this  is  simply  a  part  of  its  compound 
(the  hydrate  of  lime),  and  you  can  still  add  more  of  the  chloride  of 
lime  to  the  solution  before  it  is  saturated,  as  this  chloride  is  sepa- 
rated and  dissolved,  whereas  another  part  of  its  composition  is  not, 
for  the  beginner  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  so-called  chloride  of 
lime  is  a  compound. 

The  apprentice  thus  sees  why  he  is  often  in  difficulty  in  using  this 
bath,  and  to  obviate  it  we  recommend  that  instead  of  using  a  satu- 
rated solution,  to  accustom  himself  to  weigh  the  chloride  of  lime, 
and  then  he  can,  after  he  has  once  started  rightly,  keep  it  always 
the  same.  This  bath  can  be  used  a  number  of  times,  by  decanting 
the  clear  liquid  out  of  the  bottle  and  adding  a  little  gold,  enough  to 
tone  the  prints,  and  a  trifle  of  lime.  It  is  made  as  follows  : 

Water, 40  ounces. 

Chloride  of  Lime, 5  grains. 

Chloride  of  Gold, 4     " 

The  chloride  of  gold  may  be  made  in  strength  at  about  one  grain 
to  the  ounce  of  water,  and  may  be  neutralized  with  carbonate  of 
lime,  if  it  is  acid. 

If  the  chloride  of  lime  bath  is  made  as  above,  we  do  not  think  that 
there  will  be  any  difficulty  in  working  it. 

CITRIC  ACID  TONING  BATH. 

This  is  a  most  excellent  bath,  either  for  portraits  or  landscapes, 
there  being  in  its  composition  no  strong  alkalies  or  acids  that  will 
be  apt  to  hurt  the  albumen  on  the  prints  a  particle.  We  used  this 
bath  two  years,  and  it  is  a  most  worthy  one.  Here  it  is  : 

Solution  No.  1. 

Citric  Acid, 1  ounce. 

Water, 20  ounces. 

Solution  JVb.  2. 

Chloride  of  Gold, 15  grains. 

Water, 15  ounces. 

Stock  Solution. 

Now  take  of  Solution  No.  1,  2£  ounces ;  make  slightly  alkaline  with 
saturated  solution  of  bicarbonate  of  soda  2£  ounces,  or  about  that. 
Solution  No.  2,  £  ounce  ;  water,  64  ounces. 

When  ready  to  tone  take  sufficient  of  the  "stock  solution"  (which 
should  never  be  less  than  three  or  four  days  old)  and  add  thereto 


110  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

• 

one  ounce  of  gold  solution  No.  2,  and  ntake  this  fresh  solution  which 
you  are  about  to  add  to  the  bath  a  little  alkaline  with  bicarbonate 
of  soda. 

A  better  way,  however,  for  the  beginner  to  add  this  fresh  gold  to 
the  bath,  instead  of  pouring  the  gold  immediately  into  the  bath,  is 
to  pour  it  first  into  a  clean  graduate  and  there  make  it  alkaline. 
Pour  some  of  the  toning  solution  (stock)  into  the  graduate 'and  thor- 
oughly stir  with  a  glass  rod,  and  then  add  the  whole  to  the  rest  of 
the  bath  which  is  in  the  dish  and  stir  well  again.  To  every  four 
sheets  of  paper  you  tone,  add  about  an  ounce  of  gold  solution  ;  add- 
ing, however,  at  different  stages  of  the  toning  operations  and  not 
all  at  one  time,  as  that  would  make  the  first  few  batches  of  prints 
tone  too  rapidly.  Do  not  add  any  gold  while  there  are  any  prints 
in  the  bath,  and  stir  well,  and  allow  the  bath  to  stand  without  being 
used  for  about  three  or  four  minutes  after  you  add  the  gold.  I 
recommend  the  above  cure  to  beginners,  because  they  often  obtain 
uneven  tones  by  the  abuse  of  j the  advice  given  above. 

Do  not  tone  in  a  too  strong  light,  but  in  rather  a  weak  one,  and 
judge  not  the  tones  of  the  prints  while  in  the  hand,  but  while  lying 
down  in  the  dish. 

Tone  exactly  as. you  wish  them  when  dried,  and  no  more  nor  less. 
"Wash  the  prints  constantly  in  running  water  after  toning.  Fix  as 
usual. 

BICARBONATE  OF  SODA  BATH. 

This  is  probably  one  of  the  best  of  baths,  and  I  have  seen  some 
of  the  very  best  of  tones  obtained  with  it. 

It  is  argued  by  some  that  the  simpler  a  bath  is  the  better,  and 
that  it  is  only  chloride  of  gold  in  the  toning  bath  that  tones,  and 
that  all  other  ingredients  that  are  placed  in  the  bath  are  useless, 
and  this  bath  is  just  what  these  photographers  advise,  since  there  is 
nothing  else  to  be  placed  in  it.  Here  it  is : 

Chloride  of  Gold  Solution  (one  grain  to  the  ounce  of  water),      1  ounce.    * 

Water, 16  ounces. 

Bicarbonate  of  Soda  (saturated  solution), 10  minims. 

Make  half  an  hour  .before  use,  so  as  to  allow  it  to  ripen  thoroughly. 
Make  of  lukewarm  water.  This  bath  cannot  be  kept,  and  needs 
to  be  made  up  fresh  every  time  you  prepare  to  tone.  Throw  down 
the  gold  in  the  old  bath  with  protosulphate  of  iron. 

It  is  ready  for  toning  when  it  has  commenced  to  discolor  slightly. 

I  have  one  more  bath  to  give,  and  then  I  am  done,  and  I  have 
reserved  this  one  for  the  last,  not  because  I  think  it  the  least  im- 


TONING   BATHS.  Ill 

• 

portant,  but  because  I  think  it  the  best  of  the  whole  lot,  for  I  do  not 
think  that  there  is  a  bath  besides  this  one  that  works  so  prettily 
during  toning,  and  which  gives  such  magnificent  tones. 

It  has  the  following  merits  : 

1st.  It  is  simple  in  construction,  and  not  apt  to  be  changeable. 

2d.  The  most  beautiful  tones  can  be  obtained  with  it. 

3d.  The  alkali  used  in  it  is  not  used  in  such  abundance  as  to  hurt 
the  albumen  a  particle. 

4th.  It  will  tone  a  weak  and  flat  print  the  best  of  any  bath  that 
I  have  ever  used. 

The  most  beautiful  tones  are  attainable  with  it,  the  high-lights 
and  half- tints  of  the  face  being  very  clear,  and  cool  in  the  more 
retiring  shades,  while  in  the  hair,  deep  shadows,  and  draperies, 
especially  the  darkest,  there  will  be  a  very  rich,  warm  color. 

There  is  always  a  very  delicate  velvety  look  to  the  prints  when 
properly  toned,  which  is  always  very  much  admired,  being  very 
difficult  to  obtain  with  some  baths. 

It  is  made  as  follows  : 

Chloride  of  Gold, 2  grains. 

Pure  Rain -water, 24  ounces. 

Make  the  solution  slightly  alkaline  with 

Sat.  Sol.  Sal  Soda,  about 6  to  8  minims. 

Chloride  of  Sodium  (table  salt),  in  weight,  .       .    %  to  1  ounce. ' 

In  making  this  bath,  I  first  place  the  quantity  of  gold  solution  I 
am  going  to  use  in  the  dish  at  one  corner,  and  in  it  place  a  piece  of 
blue  litmus-paper,  which  will  immediately  turn  red.  ISTow  take  the 
bottle  of  sal  soda,  and  drop  into  the  solution  in  the  dish  until  the 
litmus-paper  turns  a  decided  blue,  which  will  take  about  six  or  eight 
drops.  Then  place  your  water  in  the  dish,  and  last  of  all  your  salt. 
Stir  up  the  contents  well,  and  let  stand  from  five  to  ten  minutes, 
and  it  is  ready  for  use. 

The  bath  should  be  made  up  as  per  formula  every  night,  throw- 
ing down  the  gold  in  the  old  solution  with  protosulphate  of  iron. 

In  toning  with  this,  or  in  fact  with  any  of  the  above  baths, 
should  it  become  exhausted,  then  add  the  ingredients  used  in  the 
first  place  in  exactly  the  same  proportion  as  was  used  in  the  mak- 
ing of  it  at  first. 

One  of  the  greatest  mistakes  that  is  made  in  toning  by  some  toners, 
is  in  toning  the  prints  until  the  draperies,  &c.,  are  about  the  right 
shade,  thus  disregarding  the  face,  which  is  the  principal  attraction 


112  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

• 

of  the  prints,  and  to  the  toner  it  should  always  be  the  object  of  at- 
tention. With  the  toning-bath  just  described,  I  will  here  give  the 
mode  of  working,  which,  if  followed  out,  will  be  productive  of  excel- 
lent results. 

This  toning  should  be  done  in  a  quite  weak  and  even  light,  and  at 
a  little  distance  from  the  window. 

An  idea  of  the  quantity  of  light  required  may  be  had  by  bearing 
in  mind  that  all  you  wish  is  to  see  distinctly  and  dearly,  without  any 
guessing. 

Take  a  couple  dozen  of  prints,  and  let  them  lie  in  your  bath  solu- 
tion face  up,  but  constantly  under  the  surface,  and  keep  them  in  mo- 
tion while  in  it.  At  first  the  prints  will  not  perceptibly  change,  but 
within  the  course  of  two  minutes  or  so  the  high-lights  and  half-tints 
of  the  face  will  lose  their  red  tint,  and  will  commence  to  border  on 
the  rich  purple,  and  then  they  will  very  quickly  arrive  at  that  stage 
when  they  are  to  be  removed  to  a  bath  of  running  water. 

This  stage  at  which  the  toning  is  to  be  discontinued  is  perhaps  at 
first  a  little  difficult  to  determine,  and  you  should  tone  a  batch  and 
let  your  assistant  fix  them,  and  when  they  are  fixed,  not  before,  you 
should  judge  of  the  tone. 

Never  take  your  prints  up  in  your  hands  to  examine  them,  for  you 
will  surely  then  be  deceived,  and  take  them  to  be  undertoned,  when 
by  examining  them  while  lying  in  the  dish  they  will  appear  to  be 
toned  plenty. 

The  prints  are  toned  when  the  high-lights  and  half -tints  of  the  face 
appear  clear  and  a  little  blue  when  they  are  lying  down  in  the  dish  and 
examined  in  a  weak  light. 

Take  them  out  immediately,  even  if  upon  looking  at  them  in  a 
stronger  light  the  shadows  and  draperies  should  appear  as  red  as 
fire,  for  the  prints  are  toned.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  you  will  at 
first  overtone  the  prints  rather  than  undertone  them.  Tone  for  the 
lights  and  half -tints,  and  let  the  shadows  take  care  of  themselves. 

The  salt  in  the  above  bath  is  the  improvement  of  this  bath  over 
the  common  sal  soda  bath,  and  it  is  partly  owing  to  this  salt  that 
such  beautiful  tones  can  be  obtained.  In  case  you  overtone,  the 
tone  will  never  be  a  disagreeable  slaty  one,  but  rather  a  pretty  blue. 


ARTISTIC   TONING.  113 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
ARTISTIC  TONING. 

As  a  rule,  in  toning  the  prints,  the  following  will,  as  a  general 
thing,  answer  admirably,  "Tone  the  prints  just  as  you  wish  them 
to  be  when  done." 

Looking  over  a  journal  one  day,  in  my  earliest  days  at  printing, 
I  saw  an  article  headed  "Artistic  Toning,"  and  upon  reading  it  I 
learned  several  things  about  toning,  and  one  little  clause  was  the 
one  above  quoted. 

This  clause  seemed  to  me  to  be  very  important  to  the  young 
printer,  and  I  wondered  at  the  time  why  I  had  never  been  told  that, 
and  I  immediately  knew  upon  reading  the  above  clause  that  I  could 
tone,  and  so  I  determined  to  tone  a  batch  of  prints  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  one  rainy  afternoon,  when  the  printer  did  not  appear  after 
he  went  to  dinner,  I  resolved  to  do  the  toning  myself  without  say- 
ing a  word  to  the  employer  about  it.  So  I  made  the  bath  as  I  had 
seen  the  printer  make  it  a  score  of  times  before,  warmed  it  slightly, 
let  stand  a  few,  minutes,  cut,  washed,  and  acidified  the  prints, 
washed  again,  and  then  commenced  to  tone  them,  toning  three  at  a 
time,  and  as  there  were  only  fifty  to  be  toned,  being  all  that  had 
been  printed  on  account  of  the  darkness  of  the  day  and  the  scarcity 
of  the  negatives,  I  did  not  doubt  but  what  I  could  tone  and  fix  them 
all  without  help.  This  was  the  first  batch  of  prints  that  I  ever  had 
the  complete  management  of  the  toning  and  fixing  of,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  let  Mr.  L.,  the  employer,  and  Mr.  B.,  the  printer,  know 
that  I  could  tone. 

"With  anxious  eyes  I  watched  that  first  batch  of  prints,  in  fact  I 
glared  at  them,  and  when  they  arrived  at  that  stage  that  I  wished 
them  to  be  when  finished,  I  took  them  out  and  set  them  to  wash- 
ing in  running  water.  When  my  next  batch  of  prints  was  almost 
toned,  I  placed  in  the  bath  a  print  that  was  not  toned,  and  compared 
the  two,  upon  doing  which  I  found  that  I  could  tone  much  better. 
I  toned  them  all  finally,  fixed,  and  set  to  washing. 

When  through,  the  "boss"  happened  to  think  that  there  was 
"  no  toner  up-stairs  "  (so  he  expressed  it,  as  I  afterwards  found  out), 
and  he  came  rushing  up  where  I  was,  to  tone  the  prints  before  it 
got  much  darker,  for  the  weather  was  lowering,  and  it  was  getting 


114  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

dark  pretty  fast.  I  told  him  that  I  had  toned,  and  he  expressed 
his  surprise  and  inquired,  "Are  any  of  them  good?"  a  question 
which  I  did  not  think  very  complimentary,  I  assure  you.  I  told 
him  that  I  thought  quite  a  number  of  them  were  good,  and  when 
he,  upon  looking  at  them,  told  me  that  they  were  "  very  nice  in- 
deed," I  felt  bigger  at  the  time  than  I  ever  have  since. 

I  asked  the  printer,  Mr.  B.,  the  next  morning,  how  the  prints 
were  toned,  and  he  said,  "  Yery  well,  only  they  were  toned  a  little 
uneven,"  and  upon  his  showing  me  what  he  meant,  I  determined, 
as  a  natural  consequence,  to  do  better  next  time.  That  little  clause 
led  me  on,  in  time,  to  do  the  toning  in  that  and  other  establish- 
ments, and  more  for  the  reason  of  showing  a  young  beginner  what 
he  can  do  by  a  little  reading  of  how  another  beginner  did,  has  led 
me  to  write  this  short  sketch  of  my  first  attempt  at  toning. 

From  the  above  you  see  that  the  idea  in  toning  is  to  tone  the 
prints  until  they  look  as  you  wish  them  to  when  finished,  and  that 
toning,  in  one  respect,  is  not  a  question  of  time  as  fixing  is  ;  for  you 
remember  that  the  printer,  when  he  fixes  his  prints,  makes  up  his 
solution  of  a  certain  strength,  which  he  makes  sure  of  by  tasting, 
and  then  he  times  them,  and  lets  them  remain  in  the  bath  so  many 
minutes.  Now,  the  toner  who  takes  five  minutes  or  so  to  tone  a 
batch  of  prints  would  give  the  impression  to  the  beginner  that  it 
was  a  question  of  so  many  minutes,  as  it  is  in  fixing  prints,  conse- 
quently I  have  here  taken  special  pains  to  contradict  this  erroneous 
thought,  so  as  to  prevent  the  novice  from  beginning  wrongly,  as  he 
would  be  apt  to  do  if  he  was  in  a  place  where  the  printer  or  printers 
would  not  take  any  pains  to  show  him,  but  would  be  constantly  on 
the  hurry  to  get  through  as  soon  as  possible. 

Now,  since  you  are  to  tone  the  prints  as  you  wish  them  to  look 
when  finished,  let  us  see  if  you  have  the  riyht  idea  in  your  mind  as 
to  how  they  should  look  when  toned. 

You  should  not  wish  to  have  them  what  may  be  called  "red  tones," 
i.  e.,  to  have  the  background,  draperies,  hair,  and  the  face  as  red  as 
a  brick,  or  in  fact  anywhere  near  it. 

You  should  not  tone  them  so  that  the  draperies  and  shadows 
look  blue. 

Rule  :  You  should  tone  until  the  face  is  slightly  blue,  and  then  the 
prints  should  be  taken  out,  even  if  the  rest  of  the  printed  paper  is  quite 
red. 

With  some  baths,  especially  such  ones  as  the  "acetate  of  soda," 
and  the  bath  described  last  in  the  preceding  chapter,  this  can  be 
done  very  easily  and  successfully  ;  but  there  .are  some  baths,  as  the 
"citric  acid,"  "chloride  of  lime,"  &c.,  that  this  treatment  cannot 


ARTISTIC   TONING.  115 

be  used  so  well,  and  in  the  case  of  the  "citric  acid  toning-bath " 
the  shadows  also  will  have  to  be  regarded,  else  the  whole  print  will 
be  as  red  as  a  brick. 

But  a  little  experience  in  toning  with  any  one  bath  will  give  you  an 
idea  as  to  how  far  you  should  tone  before  you  discontinue  the  opera- 
tion, and  set  the  prints  to  washing.  You  may  say  that  which  I  have 
just  written  will  conflict  with  the  rule  given  above,  but  it  does  not, 
for  the  only  difference  is  this  :  with  one  bath  you  can  tone  full  strong, 
and  with  another  one,  when  the  proper  state  has  arrived,  the  prints 
should  immediately  be  removed,  and  should  not  be  allowed  to  remain 
in  the  bath  until  the  tone  has  reached  the  more  decided  stage. 

In  baths  containing  either  the  acetate  or  the  chloride  of  sodium, 
or  both,  in  their  composition,  the  above  rule  should  be  strictly  car- 
ried out. 

The  beginner  should  also  bear  in  mind  that  he  should  endeavor 
to  t one  even.  By  toning  even  I  mean  to  tone  all  prints  of  the  same 
person  alike. 

Some  of  my  readers  might  say  that  it  means  to  tone  the  whole  batch 
of  prints  to  the  same  tone  or  tint. 

Now,  I  suppose  that  this  could  be  followed  out,  but  would  it  be 
called  "artistic  toning"  to  tone  blondes,  blondines,  and  brunettes 
all  the  same  tint,  and  make  the  light  hair  in  one  print  red  when  it 
is  not ;  black  hair  in  another  one  red,  and  red  hair  Hack,  &c.,  &c.  ?. 

You  may  say  that  red  hair  takes  black,  which  it  surely  does,  but 
if  it  lies  in  the  power  of  the  toner  to  tone  the  hair  red,  at  least  a 
little  so,  should  he  not  do  so  ? 

Another  person  may  have  black  hair,  should  not  the  toner  get  a 
good  dark-brown  tone  on  the  print,  so  as  to  make  the  hair  look  black 
(which  it  will  do  when  the  print  is  dry),  and  thus  make  the  print 
more  in  keeping  with  the  original  ? 

Should  not  a  blonde  have  her  hair  look  light  in  tone,  and  neither 
red  nor  brown,  but  about  somewhere  half  way  between  ? 

The  negatives  of  the  last-named  class  of  subjects  are  generally  so 
made  that  when  you  tone  the  face,  as  per  rule  given  above,  the  hair 
will  be  all  right. 

So  it  is  generally  in  by  far  the  majority  of  cases,  the  yellow  and 
red  hair  being  exceptions.  Of  course  you  cannot  obtain,  and  I 
doubt  if  you  wish  to,  yellow  tones  for  the  hair,  but  if  such  hair  is 
taken  nicely  in  the  negative  it  will  very  often  come  round  to  the 
right  tint  in  the  print,  without  making  the  rest  of  the  print  ap- 
pear at  all  yellow,  but  of  a  light  brown  tint.  While  writing  this  I 
have  in  my  hand  such  a  print,  wherein  the  hair  is  of  a  faint  yellow 
tint,  and  the  draperies,  background,  &c.,  are  of  a  rich  brown  tone. 


116  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

I  have  obtained  many  such  tones  as  this  one  by  the  use  of  the 
"citric  acid  toning  bath." 

Excellent  tones  for  the  red  hair,  with  clear  high-lights  and  half- 
tints  in  the  face,  are  easily  obtained  with  a  bath  containing  chloride 
of  sodium  in  its  composition.  The  young  beginner  might  obtain  a 
few  ideas  by  the  close  perusal  of  the  preceding  chapter  about  toning- 
baths. 

You  might  say  that  it  is  a  difficult  thing  for  a  toner  to  tone  his 
prints  in  the  style  spoken  of  above,  and  also  that  he  cannot  tell 
when  the  hair  should  be  a  decided  red,  black,  or  medium,  on  account 
of  his  never  having  seen  the  original.  For  this  reason  it  is  advised 
by  some  photographers  that  the  operator  should  do  the  toning,  as 
he  knows  more  about  the  "style  of  beauty"  than  the  printer  who 
never  sees  the  original. 

As  far  as  lies  in  the  printer's  power  he  should  tone  the  prints  as 
near  as  he  can  to  their  proper  color,  and  his  guide  should  be  the 
original. 

A  lady,  who  was  the  possessor  of  "  lovely  (?}  auburn  hair,"  once 
said  to  a  photographer : 

"  Why  !  you  have  made  my  hair  jet  black  when  it  is  auburn  /" 

"Yes,"  said  a  friend,  "they  have  made  your  lovely  hair  black 
sure  enough!" 
,    Red  hair  was  the  fashion  at  that  time. 

I  know  of  many  first-class  photographers  that  dislike  the  red 
tones  for  the  reason,  as  I  have  heard  them  say,  "  they  are  not  ar- 
tistic." 

An  excellent  photographer  in  Boston,  Mass.,  once  said  to  the 
writer  :  "I  dislike  the  red  tone,  because  it  makes  the  hair  of  some 
people  red  when  it  is  jet  black,  and  I  never  let  my  toner  tone  so  red 
as  to  make  the  hair  look  at  all  so,  but  I  request  him  to  obtain  a  rich 
brown  tone  to  his  prints,  and  then  they  will  be  more  in  keeping  with 
the  original  in  the  majority  of  cases." 

There  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  among  first-class  photog- 
raphers about  the  proper  kind  of  tones  to  be  obtained,  as  many  of 
us  are  aware,  and  would  it  not  be  better  for  us  to  go  by  the  advice 
of  those  more  skilled  in  the  art  than  what  some  of  us  are  ? 

I  myself  have  always  admired  the  German  portrait  stereographs, 
the  tones  of  many  of  which  I  think  are  perfect. 

It  is  not  only  in  the  portrait  work  that  this  toning  is  to  be  so  ob- 
served, but  it  should  be  more  so  in  landscapes,  marine  views,  &c. 

Always  tone  them  more  than  what  you  would  portraits,  as  red 
tones  on  views  are  abominable,  and  then  by  toning  them  a  rich  brown 
the  finished  print  will  look  as  the  views  do  in  nature,  and  trees, 


ARTISTIC  TONING.  117 

rockj-  bluffs,  fences,  wood-piles,  water,  logs  in  water,  reflections  in 
the  water,  steamers,  &c.,  will  all  be  delineated  in  the  print  with 
wonderful  fidelity. 

I  have  in  my  hand,  at  the  present  moment,  one  of  the  best-toned 
stereoscopic  photographs  that  1  ever  saw.  The  beauty  of  its  tone 
consists  in  its  perfect  trueness  to  nature  ;  at  least  it  is  as  far  perfect 
as  lies  in  the  power  of  the  toner  to  make  it. 

Artistic  toning  of  stereoscopic  views  can  be  seen  by  examining  a 
collection  of  Kilburn  Bros.,  Littleton,  N.  H.,  and  artistic  toning  of 
portraits  by  examining  those  of  Fritz  Luckhardt  of  Germany,  Sa- 
rony's,  Gurney's,  Howell's,  &c.,  of  New  York. 

It  would  be  a  good  thing  for  the  young  beginner  to  get  his  em- 
ployer to  purchase  for  him  a  dozen  or  so  assorted  prints  from  those 
galleries.  I  did  so,  and  from  the  study  of  them  I  derived  consider- 
able knowledge  besides  much  pleasure. 

Weak  prints  should  be  toned  in  a  very  weak  toning  bath,  as  when 
the  bath  is  very  nearly  exhausted,  and  face  up  in  the  solution. 

Intense  or  hard  prints  should  be  toned  quite  quickly  in  a  strong 
bath,  and  face  down  in  the  solution. 

Prints  face  up  in  the  toning  bath  tone  slower  than  when  face 
down. 

Weak  prints,  in  all  solutions,  should  be  subjected  to  mild  treat- 
ment. 

A  black  tone  is  obtained  by  toning  full  strong  in  almost  any  bath 
if  it  contains  a  trace  of  chloride  of  lime. 

A  chocolate  tone  is  obtained  by  toning  a  little  longer  than  what 
you  would  for  a  red  tone,  in  almost  any  bath  except  the  chloride  of 
lime  bath,  and  sometimes  it  can  be  obtained  in  this  bath  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  negatives. 

A  decided  brown  tone  is  obtained  by  toning  a  trifle  longer  than 
what  you  would  do  to  obtain  a  chocolate  tone. 

To  obtain  a  purple  tone  you  should  tone  between  a  chocolate  and 
a  brown  until  the  print  commences  to  show  the  least  possible  signs 
of  this  tone,  then  take  it  from  the  bath,  and  fix  and  wash,  and 
when  it  is  finally  all  finished  it  will  be  purplish  in  tint.  The  "sal 
soda  bath"  is  excellent  for  these  kind  of  tones,  and  they  are  quite 
easy  to  obtain,  especially  if  the  prints  are  strong,  bold,  and  pos- 
sess good  toning  qualities.  A  "nitrate  of  uranium  bath"  is  also 
excellent. 

A  blue  tone  is  obtained  by  almost  any  bath,  but  a  good,  clear, 
and  pretty  blue  is  a  little  hard  to  obtain,  unless  the  negatives  from 
which  the  prints  were  printed  are  excellent  ones,  containing  good 
toning  qualities. 


118  THE   PEACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  "bicarbonate  of  sodium"  is  an  excellent  bath  to  obtain  rich 
blue  tones. 

All  of  the  above  tones  are  obtained  more  by  removing  a  print  at 
certain  stages  of  the  toning  from  the  solution  than  by  any  particu- 
lar bath,  although  some  baths  may  be  better  than  others  for  produc- 
ing particular  tones.  It  is,  in  a  great  measure,  however,  simply  a 
matter  of  taste  and  experience. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 
FIXING  BATHS  AND  FIXING  FEINTS. 

As  has  before  been  written  in  one  of  the  preceding  chapters,  the 
prints  need  a  fixing  agent  to  remove  all  trace  of  the  silver  in  them. 

This  fixing  agent  used  is  hyposulphite  of  sodium,  and  a  bath  of 
it  is  made  of  a  certain  strength  by  dissolving  this  in  a  quantity  of 
water,  and  the  prints  are  immersed  therein  for  a  number  of  minutes. 

Cyanuret  of  potassium  is  never  used  in  fixing  the  prints,  although 
it  is  sometimes  used  in  fixing  the  negatives.  The  reason  of  this  is 
because  it  spoils  the  beauty  of  the  tones,  bleaching  the  prints  fear- 
fully, and  on  the  whole  is  a  miserable  fixing  agent  to  use  for  deli- 
cate photographs. 

There  is  a  diversity  of  opinion  among  photographers  about  the 
strength  of  the  fixing  bath,  some  using  it  much  stronger  than 
others  do. 

I,  myself,  am  inclined  towards  having  a  weak  bath,  and  fixing  a 
longer  time  than  what  I  would  with  a  strong  bath,  as  the  action 
will  be  more  gentle,  and  on  the  whole  better  results  are  obtained 
by  so  doing,  and  blistering  and  bleaching  are,  in  a  great  measure, 
cured.  It  is  very  important  that  the  hypo  bath  should  be  made  up 
every  time  you  require  its  use,  as  old  hypo  baths  are  very  injurious 
to  the  prints. 

Take  a  two-gallon  bottle,  and  place  in  it  about  one  pound  of  the 
hypo  crystals,  fill  up  with  water,  shake  well,  and  label  this  bottle 
"Sat.  Sol.  Hyposulphite  of  Soda,"  and  when  you  have  made  it 
saturated,  you  are  then  ready  to  make  the  bath  as  per  formula  given 
below.  To  be  sure  that  this  hypo  solution  becomes  saturated, 
make  it  up  at  least  two  days  before  you  wish  to  use  it.  Just  before 
using,  shake  the  contents  in  the  bottle  for  about  two  minutes. 


FIXING   BATHS   AND   FIXING   PRINTS.  119 

When  you  wish  to  make  the  bath,  take  of 

Sat.  Sol.  Hyposulphite  of  Sodium, 1  ounce. 

Water, 8  ounces. 

Sat.  Sol.  Bicarbonate  of  Soda, ^  ounce. 

Large  quantities  in  proportion. 

Make  it  up  in  a  dish,  which  is  kept  expressly  for  this,  and  this  alone. 

The  bicarbonate  of  soda  is  used  in  the  fixing  bath  for  the  purpose 
of  making  alkaline  any  free  acid  there  may  exist  in  the  solution. 

This  is  very  important,  for  in  case  the  solution  should  happen  to 
be  acid,  it  would  finally  be  the  means  of  liberating  sulphur  and 
forming  sulphide  of  silver,  and  it  would  deposit  itself  on  the  prints, 
affecting  them  seriously  in  look,  tone,  and  permanence. 

Aqua  ammonia  is  sometimes  used  for  the  same  purpose,  but  if  it 
is  to  be  used,  only  a  few  droj^  of  it  are  necessary,  as  any  more  will 
cause  the  albumen  on  the  prints  to  become  very  tender,  giving  a 
look  of  transparency  to  the  whole  print.  The  prints  are  very  easily 
torn  when  the  ammonia  is  used  to  excess,  on  account  of  the  softness 
of  the  paper.  On  the  whole,  I  think  it  better  to  use  bicarbonate  of 
soda,  as  it  is,  as  before  said,  a  much  milder  alkali  than  ammonia. 

During  the  cold  months  of  winter,  and  also  at  all  times  when  the 
water  is  cold,  the  soda  solution  should  be  heated  to  about  a  luke- 
warm state  (no  more),  as  the  action  of  freezing  hyposulphite  of  soda 
solution  will  be  very  slow,  and  also  injurious  to  the  prints,  causing 
innumerable  blisters  all  over  the  prints. 

An  assistant  should  pass  the  prints  from  the  washing-tank,  a 
number  at  a  time  (so  as  to  get  them  in  as  near  as  possible  at  the 
same  time),  and  place  them  in  the  hypo  bath  (without  touching  the 
hypo  solution  with  the  fingers  while  passing  the  hands  from  one  to 
the  other),  and  the  operator  at  the  hypo  bath  should  separate  and 
cover  them  with  the  solution  as  soon  as  he  can,  for  if  this  is  not  done, 
and  the  prints  are  fixed  imperfectly,  they  will  then  have  mottled 
yellowish-brown  spots  all  over  them  where  they  have  been  laid  to- 
gether, and  which  are  very  observable  when  washed  and  dried. 
More  about  imperfect  fixing,  &c.,  at  some  future  time. 

After  you  have  had  all  the  prints  placed  in  the  bath,  then  note 
the  time  by  the  clock. 

Keep  the  prints  in  constant  motion  while  in  this  bath,  and  do  not 
allow  one  single  print  to  stick  to  another,  even  for  the  space  of  ten 
seconds,  if  you  wish  to  have  them  properly  fixed. 

Too  much  attention  cannot  be  given  to  this  little  thing  if  you 
wish  to  have  your  prints  fixed  evenly,  and  not  have  them  come  out 
when  finished  full  of  darkish-brown  spots,  yellow  stains,  &c. 


120  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  reason  why  I  have  advised  you  to  have  an  assistant  place  the 
prints  in  the  bath  for  you  is,  because  if  you  are  inexperienced  in 
doing  it  yourself,  you  will  be  apt  to  get  some  of  the  hypo  on  the 
prints  before  they  are  wholly  placed  in  the  bath  and  under  the  solu- 
tion, and  when  you  do  that  they  will  be  spoiled,  and  all  of  the  sub- 
sequent fixing  will  not  remove  it.  They  will  be  stained,  and  among 
other  things  there  will  be  the  so-called  "finger-stains,"  caused  by 
the  fingers  having  had  hypo  on  them  when  the  prints  were  taken 
up,  just  after  toning  and  before  fixing. 

After  the  prints  have  been  in  constant  motion  for  full  eight  min- 
utes, look  through  them  by  holding  them,  one  at  a  time,  between 
you  and  the  light,  and  after  you  have  looked  at  a  dozen  or  so,  and 
the  shadows,  hair,  &c.,  present  a  clear  transparent  appearance  (and 
not  at  all  mottled)  to  the  critical  eye,  the  prints  are  fixed.  If  they 
are  not  clear,  let  them  remain  in  the  bath  until  they  are.  An  expe- 
rienced "fixer"  can  tell  in  a  few  moments  whether  they  are  fixed 
or  not  by  doing  as  has  just  been  said. 

If  the  prints  are  fixed,  then  pour  oif  about  one-half  of  the  solution 
in  the  dish,  and  fill  up  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water.  Move  the 
prints  continually  in  this  water  for  about  five  minutes  longer,  then 
pour  off  about  three-quarters  of  this,  and  fill  up  again.  The  reason 
of  this  is  to  get  the  density  of  the  liquid  down  gradually  to  that  of 
water,  so  that  the  prints  will  not  blister,  which  they  would  surely 
do  if  they  were  placed  directly  from  the  hypo  into  the  water  ready 
for  washing.  Alcohol  placed  in  the  hypo  bath  answers  the  same 
purpose. 

Some  printers  (myself  among  them)  place  their  prints,  after  they 
are  removed  from  the  hypo,  in  a  bath  of  salt-water,  made  by  placing 
a  handful  of  table-salt  to  every  gallon  of  water.  Let  them  remain 
in  this  from  five  to  ten  minutes,  and  then  set  them  to  washing. 
The  object  of  this  salt  is  not  only  to  displace  the  hypo  from  the 
prints  so  that  they  will  wash  better,  but  also  to  prevent  them  from 
blistering  in  the  subsequent  operations,  and  when  already  blistered 
to  cure  it. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 
WASHING   THE  FEINTS. 

THE  prints,  after  they  are  removed  from  the  salt-water  bath,  are 
then  to  receive  the  final  washing,  which  will  render  them  ready  for 
the  further  operations,  such  as  mounting  and  finishing.  I  would 


WASHING   THE   PRINTS.  121 

here  most  earnestly  advise  all  printers  to  allow  their  prints  to  soak 
about  ten  minutes  in  salt  water,  as  written  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
before  you  proceed  to  wash  them,  as  besides  saving  the  annoyance 
of  having  blisters  on  them,  they  will  also  be  much  more  easily 
washed. 

This  washing  is  the  most  important  of  any  of  the  washings  be- 
fore mentioned,  because  if  it  is  insufficiently  done,  the  result  will 
De  much  more  disastrous  than  any  of  the  others.  The  other  wash- 
ings were  only  to  prepare  the  prints  for  other  solutions,  and  it  was 
not  so  important,  as  the  silver  would  finally  be  removed  in  the  fix- 
ing-bath.  But  in  this  case,  when  you  discontinue  the  washing  and 
proceed  to  mount  the  prints,  they  will  then  in  the  future  be  good, 
bad,  or  indifferent,  according  as  to  how  the  final  washing  was  done. 
This  destroying  power  which  is  so  necessary  to  be  removed  is  the 
hyposulphite  of  sodium,  a  considerable  quantity  of  which  still  re- 
mains in  the  print.  The  theory  of  washing  is  that  the  water  gradu- 
ally displaces  the  hypo  in  the  prints,  providing  the  washing  is  per- 
mitted to  continue  long  enough,  and  then  the  prints  can  be  mounted 
and  dried  without  any  danger  of  bad  results  from  further  chemical 
action.  The  young  beginner  can  thus  see  the  necessity  of  frequent 
changes  of  water  to  remove  this  destroying  agent,  and  hence  it  would 
be  a  good  plan  for  the  first  half  hour  or  so  after  the  prints  are  fixed 
to  wash  them  by  hand,  and  then  trust  to  the  washing  apparatus, 
whatever  that  may  be.  In  small  establishments  this  washing  is 
done  by  permitting  the  water  to  run  into  a  dish  at  one  corner. 
When  they  are  so  done,  it  would  be  best  to  do  as  recommended,  as 
they  are  likely  to  be  all  together  the  greater  part  of  the  time  when 
thus  washed. 

The  Moulton  Rapid  Print-washer  is  highly  recommended,  and  is 
said  to  do  the  work  very  quickly  and  thoroughly. 

Washing  by  hand  can  be  done  in  the  following  simple  yet  effective 
way : 

Take  a  suitably  sized  dish,  fill  about  half  full  of  water,  and  when 
the  prints  are  removed  from  the  salt  water,  place  them  in  this  bath 
of  clear  water  with  one  hand,  while  with  the  other  you  place  them 
under  the  surface.  When  the  prints  are  all  placed  in  this  bath  of 
water,  then  move  them  all  about  for  five  minutes,  and  then  pour  off 
the  water  and  fill  up  again,  and  let  them  stay  in  five  minutes  more. 

Do  this  for  four  or  five  times  more,  using  lukewarm  water,  as  it 
will  do  the  work  quicker  than  cold,  and  then  they  will  be  ready  to 
wash  in  the  dish,  as  above  described,  by  arranging  the  hose  so  that 
the  water  will  run  through  and  between  the  prints.  When  there 

9 


122  THE   PRACTICAL    PRINTER. 

are  only  six  or  eight  scores  of  prints,  they  will  be  washed  in  a  short 
time. 

The  great  secret  in  washing  prints  is  to  keep  them  separated  from 
each  other,  thus  .permitting  the  fresh  water  to  move  between  them  all  of 
the  time. 

In  large  batches  of  prints,  say  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  sheets  of 
paper,  this  washing  cannot  be  done  in  so  simple  a  way  as  the  above, 
hence  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  a  washing-tank  that  will,  on  ac- 
count of  its  peculiarly  adapted  make,  wash  the  prints  perfectly,  and 
a  longer  or  shorter  time  is  required  according  as  to  how  thoroughly 
the  tank  does  its  work. 

To  keep  the  small  cartes  from  getting  between  large  prints,  say 
14  x  17,  and  even  larger  ones,  and  thus  getting  imperfectly  washed, 
a  series  of  washing-tanks  are  arranged,  a  large  one  of  which  is  in- 
tended for  the  washing  of  large  prints  alone,  and  a  smaller  one  for 
the  cartes  de  visite,  Victorias,  and  Imperials. 

Every  photograph  gallery  has  some  sort  of  a  tank  which  is  in- 
tended for  this  washing,  and  I  will  mention  here  that  these  final 
washing-tanks  should  never  be  used  for  any  of  the  other  operations, 
such  as  the  other  washings,  fixing,  &c. 

These  tanks  are  more  or  less  perfect  in  performing  their  work,  but 
there  is  one  idea  that  is  generally  carried  out  in  them  all,  and  that  is 
to  have  an  outlet  in  the  bottom  of  the  tank  or  tanks  so  arranged  that, 
without  sucking  the  prints  in,  the  water  can  be  let  out  at  the  oppo- 
site side  to  where  the  fresh  water  is  supplied. 

To  keep  these  prints  in  motion  while  washing,  and  thus  make 
them  use ^/-washing,"  a  rotary  motion  is  given  to  them  on  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  water  enters  the  tank.  A  half-inch 
pipe  generally  runs  along  the  inside  of  the  tank,  suspended  midway 
between  the  top  and  bottom,  and  having  small  holes  so  made  in  it 
that  minute  streams  of  water  strike  the  water  obliquely  in  the  same 
direction  and  at  different  parts  of  the  surface,  thereby  causing  the 
water  to  rotate  around  the  tank,  carrying  the  prints  with  it. 

The  tank  is  so  made  that  the  diameter  increases  as  it  proceeds 
towards  the  bottom  of  the  tank,  so  as  to  prevent  the  prints  from 
sticking  to  the  sides  of  it,  and  to  be  doubly  sure  that  they  will  not 
adhere  to  the  sides  there  is  on  the  under  surface  of  the  pipe  an  array 
of  small  holes  running  the  whole  length  of  it,  sending  small  streams 
of  water  down  the  sides  of  the  tank  driving  away  the  prints  which 
maybe  there.  To  prevent  the  apparatus  from  overflowing  an  over- 
flow is  made,  which,  when  the  water  has  reached  that  level,  it  can 
be  run  off  without  danger  of  carrying  the  prints  with  it.  But  better 
still  are  those  tanks  which  are  got  up  on  the  siphon  plan,  and  then 


WASHING   THE    PBINTS.  123 

when  the  water  has  reached  the  proper  level  (which  you  can  regu- 
late) it  is  all  let  off,  leaving  the  prints  on  the  bottom  of  the  tank, 
which  is,  of  course,  so  made  as  to  prevent  any  hurt  coming  to  the 
prints. 

A  washing  apparatus  got  up  on  the  siphon  arrangement,  and 
emptying  itself  every  twenty  or  twenty-five  minutes,  is  one  which  I 
used  in  a  printing-room  of  an  excellent  gallery  for  a  number  of 
months. 

It  slanted  outward  as  it  proceeded  towards  the  bottom,  for  the 
same  reason  as  was  stated  above,  i.  e.,  to  prevent  the  prints  from 
sticking  to  the  sides. 

The  pipe  in  it  was  arranged  as  was  described  above,  and  the  bot- 
tom of  the  tank  was  covered  with  small  pebbles  about  two  inches 
in  depth,  which  are  or  should  be  evenly  distributed.  Close  to  the 
bottom  of  the  tank,  on  the  side,  a  hole  was  made  (hid  from  the  prints 
by  a  piece  of  glass,  the  edges  of  which  were  ground  smoothly),  which 
permitted  the  water  to  pass  through  by  means  of  a  little  iron  pipe 
(varnished)  two  inches  in  length,  which  fits  in  exactly  close  to  the 
wood.  About  an  inch  of  this  pipe  projects  beyond  the  tub,  and  a 
piece  of  suitable  rubber  hose  is  fastened  and  bent  in  the  form  of  a 
siphon,  the  higher  level  of  which  is  fastened  by  a  wire  in  its  proper 
position.  When  the  water  in  the  tub  has  reached  the  highest  level 
of  the  siphon,  the  water,  which  has  been  gradually  working  up  in 
the  hose,  will  flow  therefrom,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  tank  will  be 
emptied  of  the  water,  although  there  is  a  stream  running  in  all  of 
the  time.  The  prints  will  be  gently  let  down  into  the  pebbles,  and 
the  water,  after  it  has  ceased  to  run  out,  will  again  cover  the  prints, 
and  set  them  afloat  before  they  have  hardly  stopped  draining. 

The  supply  water  never  should  enter  the  tank  nearly  as  quickly 
as  the  siphon  carries  it  off  when  it  has  once  started.  ISTo  danger 
need  to  be  apprehended  from  the  drying  of  the  prints  while  the  tank 
is  filling  up  again  after  it  has  once  been  emptied. 

For  large  prints  this  is  not  very  good,  especially  if  there  are  a 
quantity  of  them,  but  on  the  whole  it  is  a  very  good  arrangement. 

In  large  establishments  the  prints  are  generally  allowed  to  wash 
all  night,  and  if  there  are  many  to  be  washed  it  had  better  be  so  done, 
unless  the  whole  of  the  washing  is  done  by  hand,  and  then  a  shorter 
time  will  answer. 

Prints  which  are  toned  and  washed  Saturday  afternoon  should 
be  washed  by  hand  and  mounted  up  before  you  leave  the  establish- 
ment for  the  night,  as  remaining  in  the  water  over  Sunday  will  very 
much  affect  the  prints  ;  for,  of  course,  they  are  not  to  be  mounted 
on  Sunday.  In  some  establishments  the  printers  do  not  print  pho- 


124  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

tographs  on  Saturday,  but  spend  the  day  framing,  making  porce- 
lains, &c.,  &c. 

The  prints  should  be  tested  before  they  are  removed  from  the  tank 
for  the  purpose  of  being  mounted,  to  see  as  to  whether  they  are  per- 
fectly washed  or  not. 

Dr.  H.  Vogel,  in  his  Handbook  of  Photography,  recommends  a 
mode  of  testing  which  we  will  here  give. 

First,  we  will  give  his  mode  of  preparing  the  "Iodide  of  Starch," 
which  is  used  in  testing. 

"One  grain  arrowroot  is  mixed  with  a  few  drops  of  cold  water ; 
next  about  100  parts  of  distilled  boiling  water  are  poured  on  it,  and 
afterwards  20  parts  of  chemically  pure  saltpetre  are  added  to  make 
the  paste  keep.  To  the  solution  of  starch  20  grains  of  a  wine-yellow 
solution  of  iodine  in  iodide  of  potassium  solution  is  added  (a  bit  of 
iodine  thrown  into  a  solution  of  iodide  of  potassium  1  : 20  will  fur- 
nish this  in  a  few  seconds).  This  will  give  a  blue  solution  of  iodide 
of  starch,  which  will  keep  for  about  four  weeks." 

"When  the  washing  is  finished,"  says  Dr.  Yogel,  "the  pictures 
are  separated  under  water,  and  a  portion  of  the  last  water  is  taken 
from  the  box.  For  the  purpose  of  testing,  two  test-tubes  of  equal  size 
and  perfectly  clean  should  be  selected  ;  in  each  an  equal  quantity  of 
a  solution  of  iodide  of  starch  should  be  filled  ;  to  the  one  tube  fresh 
water  from  the  reservoir  is  added  ;  to  the  other  an  equal  quantity 
from  the  last  water  in  the  wash-box.  It  remains  only  necessary  to 
shake  both  tubes  well,  and  to  hold  them  against  a  piece  of  white 
paper  in  order  to  ascertain  if  in  one  of  the  tubes  a  discoloration  has 
taken  place.  The  greatest  cleanliness  of  the  hands  and  test-tubes 
is  necessary.  Even  with  a  millionfold  dilution  the  presence  of  soda 
can  be  detected.  When  the  test  shows  that  soda,  or  even  a  trace  of 
it,  is  still  present,  the  washing  should  be  repeated.  When  we  wish 
to  test  finished  pictures  by  this  method  we  must  soak  them  first  in 
water,  and  then  test  the  water  as  described  above." 

Before  you  proceed  to  remove  the  prints  from  the  tank  let  oif  all 
of  the  water  in  it,  and  rinse  them  well  in  a  bath  of  clean  rain-water, 
so  as  to  remove  all  traces  of  the  iron-rust  and  settlings  from  the 
water,  which  may  have  been  carried  in  the  tank  through  the  supply. 
Rinse  the  prints  in  two  or  three  changes,  so  as  to  get  them  as  clean 
as  possible,  and  they  will  be  much  nicer  and  cleaner  when  they 
are  finished.  When  the  prints  are  removed  from  the  tank  always 
rinse  it,  and  fill  up  again  with  fresh  water,  and  it  will  be  ready  for 
use  next  time.  If  the  pebbles  are  used  in  the  tank  they  should  be 
washed  every  day.  If  the  tank  is  made  of  wood  then  once  a  week 
or  fortnight  let  off  all  the  water  in  the  morning,  and  dry  it  thor- 


MOUNTING   THE   FEINTS.  125 

oughly,  and  varnish  all  over  the  tank  and  pipe  with  some  shellac 
varnish,  and  you  will  keep  the  tank  in  better  condition  by  so  doing, 
being  more  easily  cleaned  in  the  future  from  settlings,  &c. 

Once  in  every  two  or  three  months  scrape  off  the  old  shellac  with 
a  broken  piece  of  glass,  and  varnish  it  anew.  Too  much  care  can- 
not be  given  to  this,  and  in  fact  to  all  your  tanks  and  sinks,  for  they 
should  all  be  shellaced. 

All  of  these  little  things  help  towards  making  fine  work. 


CHAPTER   XXVIL 
MOUNTING   THE  FEINTS. 

OF  all  subjects  of  photography,  this  has  received  the  least  atten- 
tion. 

The  simple  process  of  mounting  is  a  thing  of  some  little  mechani- 
cal skill,  as  I  think  all  photographers  will  agree  with  me  in  saying. 

The  making  of  the  starch  paste,  if  that  is  used,  is  at  first  a  little 
troublesome  to  the  beginner,  as  is  also  the  glue,  gum,  &c.,  and  then 
the  placing  of  them  on  the  cards,  although  a  mere  mechanical  pro- 
cess, should  be  done  well. 

In  galleries  where  only  two  or  three  hundred  of  small  cards  are 
printed  in  a  day,  surely  these  few,  when  compared  to  fifteen  or. 
twenty  hundred,  which  is  the  daily  average  in  some  galleries  during; 
"the  harvest,"  ought  to  be  mounted  well,  indeed  excellent,  whera 
we  consider  that  all  that  is  required  to  make  them  so  is  only  a  little 
care. 

What  is  the  effect  left  upon  our  minds  when  we  examine  prints 
that  are  nicely  printed,  cut,  toned,  &c.,  and  are  mounted  badly? 
Does  it  not  strike  us  unfavorably  ?  I  think  it  does. 

It  is  acknowledged  by  many  photographers  that  the  starch  used 
in  mounting  is  the  cause  of  their  fading,  and  the  reason  why  this  is 
so  universally  used  is,  because  all  photographers  have  learned  to 
make  it,  and  as  they  are  either  ignorant  of  its  effects  on  the  prints, 
or  if  not  ignorant,  too  careless  or  heedless  to  take  measures  to  pre- 
vent the  use  of  it. 

But  if  this  mountant  is  really  the  cause  of  their  fading,  which  I 
think  is  partly  true  (but  I  also  think  that  too  much  blame  is  given 
to  it,  when  careless  manipulation  has  considerable  to  do  with  it), 
why  is  it  then  used  ? 


126  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

I  have  mounted  prints  with  starch,  and  one  day,  after  mounting 
a  batch  of  them  with  it,  I  saved  a  few  for  myself  for  the  purpose 
of  experimenting,  and  wrote  on  the  back  of  the  mounts  such  writing 
that  would  tell  me  at  some  future  time  why  I  had  saved  these  par- 
ticular prints. 

I  experimented  considerably  with  them,  and  placed  them  in  a 
very  dry  atmosphere  for  a  month,  then  directly  in  a  very  damp  cel- 
lar for  another  month,  in  a  dark  album  for  a  fortnight,  among  the 
samples  of  work  in  the  reception-room,  on  a  shelf  in  the  chemical- 
room  for  a  week,  in  the  dark-room  for  a  fortnight,  where  there  was 
a  strong  smell  of  cyanuret  of  potassium,  ether,  &c.,  down  cellar 
again,  under  strong  diffused  light  for  a  fortnight,  in  the  damp-box 
for  a  week,  and  in  spite  of  all  these  tests  I  could  not  get  the  prints  to 
show  either  stains,  bleaching,  cockling,  or  fading. 

Yerily  they  were  tested  well,  and  "  they  stood  the  test  like  a 
martyr. ' ' 

It  is  said  by  many,  and  as  far  as  theory  goes  it  is  correct,  that  the 
starch  used  in  mounting  the  prints  would  ferment  if  the  prints  were 
exposed  to  various  degrees  of  temperature,  such  as  dampness  and 
dryness. 

As  above  stated,  theoretically  this  is  the  very  best  reason  why  the 
prints  would  fade,  but  in  practice  they  do  not  fade  so  quickly  after 
all,  as  the  above  test  has  proved  to  me,  for  I  do  not  doubt  but  that 
the  prints  were  exposed  to  more  changes  as  regards  temperature, 
odor  of  chemicals,  &c.,  than  what  comes  to  most  prints  during 
twenty  years,  and  if  they  were  to  fade  at  all,  I  should  think  that 
the  above  would  do  it,  and  with  one  exception,  viz.,  age,  they  have 
stood  a  greater  test  than,  as  before  said,  the  generality  of  prints 
have  ever  received. 

We  have  photographs  in  our  family  album  that  were  taken  twelve 
and  more  years  ago,  many  in  Xew  York,  Boston,  and  other  places, 
and  which  have  been  through  a  variety  of  changes,  such  as  being 
on  the  ocean  for  months,  both  in  tropical  as  well  as  in  the  colder 
climates,  having  been  in  Cuba  for  several  months,  as  well  as  in 
climates  where,  I  have  been  told,  the  atmosphere  is  about  always 
damp  at  certain  periods  of  the  year. 

Upon  inquiring,  I  have  been  told  that  the  photographs  were  not 
kept  in  the  album,  except  at  sea,  but  were  placed  on  mantelpieces 
and  around  the  shelves  in  the  family  sitting-room ;  and  thus  changes 
were  thoroughly  given  to  them ;  and  to-day,  as  I  am  looking  at 
them,  I  am  told  that  they  have  neither  faded,  and  as  I  myself  see, 
they  are  not  stained,  or  the  whites  discolored,  from  insufficient 
washing,  &c.  Surely  they  were  made  well.  I  am  taking  for  granted 


MOUNTING   THE    PRINTS.  127 

i 

that  they  were  mounted  with  starch,  as  that,  is  the  universal 
mountant. 

Now,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  prints  never  fade  from  the  fer- 
menting of  the  starch  used  in  mounting,  for  I  think  that  if  they 
were  kept  for  many  months  in  damp  places  they  might  possibly 
fade,  but  this  is,  I  really  believe,  very  seldom  the  cause  of  their 
fading. 

A  very  good  way  to  make  this  paste  is  to  first  dissolve  the  starch 
in  a  little  cold  water  in  a  suitable  dipper.  Now  obtain  some  boiling 
water,  and  keep  pouring  a  small  stream  of  it  in  the  dipper  where 
the  dissolved  starch  is  (keeping  the  dipper  on  the  hot  stove),  stirring 
the  contents  quickly  all  of  the  time.  When  it  is  thick  enough,  then 
stop  the  pouring  in  of  the  water,  and  stir  well  until  the  starch  com- 
mences to  boil,  at  which  time  it  should  immediately  be  removed, 
and  your  paste  will  be  nicely  made,  and  there  will  be  no  lumps  in 
it ;  if  after  it  is  cooled  you  remove  the  upper  crust,  and  you  will  not 
burn  the  starch,  as  beginners  are  apt  to  do  the  first  few  times  they 
make  it,  neither  will  there  be  any  "  cobble-stones  "  in  it. 

Glue  is  an  excellent  mountant,  and  is  used  by  many  skilled  photog- 
raphers. 

It  is  made  as  follows  : 

Obtain  some  of  the  best  clean  light  glue  and  soak  the  whole  of  it 
in  cold  water  over  night.  The  next  day,  strain  off  the  dirt  in  the 
water  and  then  pour  the  thin  glue-water  back  again  into  the  dish. 
Dissolve  the  glue  as  it  is  on  a  hot  stove  or  over  a  small  jet  of  gas, 
adding  hot  water  to  it  in  case  it  is  going  to  be  too  thick,  which  you 
can  easily  tell  by  stirring  the  contents  of  the  gluepot  with  a  stick. 
After  it  is  all  dissolved  and  ready  for  use,  strain  the  whole 
through  two  or  three  thicknesses  of  muslin  in  a  clean  and  suitable 
size  gluepot.  While  using  the  glue,  place  it  in  a  dish  containing  hot 
water,  and  the  glue  will  be  kept  in  a  good  condition  for  a  couple  of 
hours,  and  longer  still  if  the  water  is  kept  always  hot.  This  can  be 
used  day  after  day  as  required,  by  dissolving  and  adding  more  water 
as  necessary. 

If  the  glue  is  clear  and  light  in  color  it  is  an  excellent  mountant, 
and  I  prefer  it  to  starch.  Its  use  is  complained  of  by  some  because, 
they  say,  it  cockles  the  prints,  and  a  little  of  the  best  white  pow- 
dered sugar  is  added  to  keep  it  and  to  prevent  it  from  cockling. 
Two  reasons  of  this  cockling,  when  using  either  glue  or  starch 
(whichever  it  may  be),  are  using  it  too  thick,  as  well  as  too  thin,  and 
then  again,  in  insufficient  "rubbing  down"  of  the  prints  after 
mounting. 


128  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  small  prints,  as  they  are  removed  from  the  water,  are  laid  in 
a  neat  pile  face  down. 

A  suitable  size  glass,  say  8  x  10,  is  covered  with  the  same  size 
piece  of  clean  unsized  paper,  which  is  thoroughly  wetted,  and  when 
the  prints  in  the  water  are  thoroughly  rinsed,  they  are  laid  in  a 
perfectly  even  bunch  on  it,  the  different  sizes  to  themselves.  The 
paper  laid  on  the  glass  serves  to  keep  the  prints  damper  than  the 
bare  glass  would.  Use  clean  paper  every  time  you  prepare  to  mount 
the  prints. 

The  prints  are  mounted  for  convenience  in  a  wet  state.  The  object 
of  mounting  with  the  starch  or  glue,  as  the  case  may  be,  is  to  fill 
up  the  pores,  and  thus  bring  the  print  in  perfect  contact  with  the 
card-mount,  which  is  aided  very  much  in  the  so-called  process  of 
"rubbing  down." 

You  should  apply  the  starch  or  glue  to  the  prints  quite  thinly, 
and  after  laying  them  carefully  on  the  mounts,  lay  a  sheet  of  thick 
writing-paper,  or  better  still,  some  unsized  printing-paper,  on  it, 
and  rub  the  prints,  commencing  at  about  the  centre  and  rubbing 
outwards,  which  process  will  perfectly  remove  all  air-bubbles  from 
under  their  surface.  Then  bend  backwards  the  mounted  print,  and 
rub  the  finger  along  the  edges  carefully  of  all  the  sides  of  it.  I  recom- 
mend bending  in  of  the  back  of  the  mount,  because,  in  drying,  the 
print  draws  the  thick  cardboard  inward,  and  this  counteracts  it,  and 
the  dried  prints  will  be  flat,  and  can  consequently  be  finished  better. 
The  prints  should  be  allowed  to  dry  spontaneously,  and  then  they 
would  not  be  so  likely  to  cockle  as  they  would  if  they  were  dried  by 
the  fire. 

In  mounting  large  prints,  lay  a  print  at  a  time  on  some  thick- 
nesses of  clean  paper,  and  where  there  is  no  trace  of  starch,  and 
after  pasting  mount  it  on  a  suitable  size  cardboard,  and  rub  well 
from  the  middle  outwards  as  in  the  small  prints,  examining  after- 
wards to  see  as  to  whether  there  are  any  air-bubbles  which  escaped 
notice,  and  if  so,  be  careful  to  remove  all  of  them.  When  applying 
paste  to  the  print  for  the  purpose  of  mounting,  examine  the  surface, 
and  if  there  are  any  hard  bunches  of  paste,  dirt,  &c. ,  even  if  in  a 
small  quantity,  as  a  lump  or  two,  remove  them  with  the  finger-nail, 
as  these  places  will  sfcow  after  they  are  mounted,  and  spoil  the 
looks  of  the  work. 

Dry  these  large  prints  in  a  suitable  size  book,  kept  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  under  a  sheet  of  blotting-paper,  and  when  they  have  been 
there  an  hour,  remove  to  another  place  of  the  book,  under/res/i  and 
dry  blotting-paper. 


FINISHING   THE   PRINTS.  129 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
FINISHING   THE  PRINTS. 

WHEN  the  prints  are  mounted,  all  spots  are  to  be  touched  out, 
and  the  high-lights  in  the  eyes,  &c.,  are  to  be  placed  in,  as  will  be 
presently  shown.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  wait  until  the  cards 
are  dry  to  do  this,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  perhaps  better  to  touch 
the  spots  out  while  the  cards  are  damp,  so  that  if  an  ordinary  roller 
is  used  the  prints  can  be  rolled  while  a  little  damp,  and  a  better 
polish  is  thus  secured. 

When  the  beginner  commences  this  work  on  the  prints,  he  will 
then,  if  not  before,  see  the  importance  of  thoroughly  dusting  the 
negatives  while  printing,  as  the  neglect  of  it  will  here  occasion  him 
considerable  trouble,  as  well  as  the  final  result  not  being  so  nice  as 
it  would  be  if  there  were  no  such  places  to  be  touched  out. 

For  this  reason  I  have  often  thought  that  if  the  beginner  was 
served  as  I  was  when  I  commenced  to  print,  it  would  be  a  good 
thing.  It  was  to  assist  at  printing  on  one  day  and  the  next  to  as- 
sist at  the  touching  of  the  prints,  for  the  space  of  a  fortnight  or  so, 
and  thus  he  would  learn  how  much  trouble  was  saved  by  a  little 
care  being  taken  in  the  first  place,  and  a  valuable  trait  towards 
making  a  good  printer  would  be  early  acquired.  But  even  if  the 
greatest  pains  were  to  be  taken  in  the  dusting  of  the  negatives, 
there  are  instances  in  which  it  would  not  prevent  some  places 
from  printing :  said  places  being  in  the  film  that  is  on  the  glass, 
occasioned  in  some  of  its  manipulations,  such  as  the  varnishing,  or 
by  some  defect  in  the  glass  itself,  either  scratches,  bubbles,  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort. 

It  is  on  account  of  the  unnecessary  trouble  occasioned  in  the 
touching  out  of  these  spots  that  I  have,  in  a  previous  chapter,  rec- 
ommended not  to  "touch  out  holes"  in  the  film  any  larger  than 
what  is  necessary,  and  also  where  there  are  scratches,  whether  large 
or  small,  to  print  the  negative  either  under  one  or  two  ground- 
glasses,  and  even  sometimes  a  tissue-paper,  so  that  such  places  will 
not  show  any  more  in  the  resulting  print  than  what  is  really  neces- 
sary. 

A  good  printer  will  assist  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  do  the  mount- 
ing and  finishing  of  the  prints  as  much  as  it  is  in  his  power,  as  well 


130  THE    PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

as  the  position  artist,  operator,  or  chemical  manipulator  tries  to  as- 
sist him  (the  printer).  A  very  noted  New  York  photographer  once 
said  to  me : 

4 '  In  my  gallery,  the  object  of  those  in  each  department  is  to  as- 
sist each  other  as  much  as  lies  in  their  power,  by  doing  their  work 
so  that  they  will  not  have  to  rely  upon  the  person  or  persons  whose 
duty  it  is  to  do  the  next  in  routine  to  cover  up  their  defects  ;  for 
there  is  always  enough  of  their  own  work  to  do,  without  doing  any 
more  of  another's  than  what  is  absolutely  necessary." 

There  is  no  small  amount  of  work  to  be  done  by  the  lady  in  touch- 
ing out  the  absolutely  necessary  spots  on  the  prints,  as  any  one  who 
has  ever  tried  to  touch  out  can  tell  for  a  certainty,  it  being  likened 
unto  the  work  of  a  negative-toucher,  both  of  them  being  more  or 
less  severe  on  the  eyes. 

Any  good  brush,  of  a  suitable  size  and  with  a  good  point,  will 
answer  for  this  purpose.  In  the  mixing  of  the  colors,  which  should 
be  done  every  day.  proper  attention  should  be  given  to  obtaining 
the  same  tint,  as  the  tone  of  the  print  indicates  to  you,  so  that  the 
touched-out  places  will  have  the  same  appearance  as  the  rest  of  the 
print.  Water  colors  are  used,  India-ink,  yellow  and  red  colors  pre- 
dominating in  the  mixing,  according  to  the  tone  you  desire,  which 
is  generally  of  a  reddish  tint. 

In  applying  the  color  to  the  prints  as  it  is  now,  they  will  dry 
dull,  and  when  looked  at  obliquely  these  dull  spots  will  show  badly, 
on  account  of  there  being  a  glaze  to  the  print  everywhere  except 
where  this  color  is  applied.  To  obviate  this,  a  liquid  solution  of 
gum  arabic  (made  by  dissolving  the  gum  in  as  little  water  as  pos- 
sible) is  mixed  with  the  colors  in  such  abundance  as  to  give  a  good 
gloss  to  the  prints  when  they  are  touched. 

More  often,  instead  of  dissolving  gum  arabic  as  described  above, 
a  lump  of  the  pure  gum  is  wetted  with  the  tongue  and  rubbed 
through  and  through  the  mixed  color,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
lump  is  stuck  to  the  palette  upon  which  the  color  is  to  be  mixed. 
In  touching  out,  in  case  the  color  after  a  while  shows  no  signs  of 
the  arabic,  then  first  rub  the  wet  point  of  the  brush  on  the  lump  of 
arabic,  and  then  take  up  some  of  the  color  and  proceed  to  touch  out 
the  spots  as  before.  The  use  of  the  arabic  makes  the  color  a  trifle 
more  difficult  to  take  to  the  prints,  but  after  awhile  you  will  not 
notice  it.  A  glass  of  clean  water  should  be  near  at  hand  for  you  to 
wet  your  brush  in  and  to  cleanse  it  when  necessary.  The  beginner, 
in  touching  out  with  the  brush  and  color,  should  be  careful  and  not 
touch  too  heavy  as  well  as  too  light,  and  never  leave  a  spot  unless 
the  color  applied  gives  the  same  dark  tint  as  the  surrounding  places, 


FINISHING   THE    PRINTS.  131 

and  he  should  not  touch  out  a  larger  spot  than  what  the  spot 
really  is.  A  little  experience  will  tell  him  what  is  to  be  touched 
out,  and  what  is  not. 

All  dirt  spots  (i.  e.,  light  spots  on  the  prints  which  are  usually 
caused  by  dirt  adhering  to  the  varnish  of  the  negative)  should  be 
touched  out  wherever  they  occur.  The  most  noticeable  places  are 
in  the  draperies,  face,  background,  &c. 

The  unevenness,  if  there  is  any,  of  the  retouching  should  also  be 
attended  to,  i.e.,  those  parts  on  some  parts  of  the  face  which  are 
lighter  than  the  surrounding  parts,  caused  by  the  pencil  of  the  re- 
toucher taking  too  heavily. 

I  mentioned  above  about  placing  the  high-lights  in  the  eyes,  and 
as  the  beginner  may  not  know  what  I  mean  by  it  I  will  here  explain. 

In  many  prints  the  eyes,  owing  either  to  the  carelessness  or  ignor- 
ance of  the  operator,  have  no  high-lights  in  them,  and  when  such  is 
the  case  they  should  be  placed  in  each  eye,  at  the  proper  place,  by 
the  brush,  upon  which  a  little  white  paint  (water  color)  is  dissolved. 

The  greatest  experience  is  required  to  do  this  as  it  should  be  done, 
and  the  apprentice  should  never  attempt  it  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility until  he  -has  been  thoroughly  taught  how  and  where  they 
should  be  placed.  In  many  cases  the  high-lights  should  in  a  meas- 
ure be  touched  out,  and  all  other  reflected  lights  should  be  removed. 

A  common  lead  pencil  of  a  medium  grade  of  hardness  is  used  for 
the  purpose  of  modelling  the  face,  as  well  as  touching  out  the  slight 
spots  that  are  in  the  face,  draperies,  &c.,  whether  occasioned  by  the 
retoucher  in  touching  the  negative,  or  by  the  printer  in  printing 
them. 

The  Siberian  Graphite,  No.  2,  H.  B.  pencil,  I  have  used  with 
very  good  results. 

A  good  not  too  sharp  point  is  made,  and  a  slight  touch  of  it 
will  very  neatly  touch  out  the  thin  and  long  dirt  spots,  and  in  mod- 
elling, both  in  the  lights  and  shades,  it  is  capital.  There  will  not  be 
enough  difference  in  the  tone  of  the  pencil-mark  and  the  color  of 
the  prints  to  cause  any  attention  from  this  source,  unless  the  places 
are  larger  than  the  head  of  a  tolerably  large  common  pin.  The 
pencil  very  often  reaches  places  more  easily,  and  can  be  used  quicker 
than  a  brush,  therefore  it  is  used  considerably,  when  it  can  be,  with 
good  results.  For  diving  in  between  the  shadows  in  the  cheeks, 
and  filling  them  up  (not  too  much),  and  touching  out  those  dirt 
spots  which  may  happen  to  show  on  the  high-lights,  and  in  all 
places  where  only  a  very  slight  touch  is  required,  the  pencil  is  much 
better  than  the  brush,  as  it  will  make  a  much  better  mark. 

To  ease  the  eyes  in  touching  out  the  minute  spots  a  large  mag- 


132  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

nifying-glass  is  placed  conveniently  in  a  sort  of  a  vise,  by  means 
of  a  suitable  rod  which  is  attached  to  the  glass. 

This  glass  is  placed  at  some  six  inches  from  the  prints,  and  the 
person  touching  out  can  not  only  do  the  work  better,  but  the  trying 
of  the  eyes  is  in  a  great  measure  prevented. 

A  little  flesh-wash  is  given  to  the  cheeks  and  lips  of  the  ladies  and 
children  with  good  effects. 

ROLLING  THE  PRINTS. 

The  prints,  after  they  are  properly  "spotted,"  are  ready  to  be 
rolled,  which  should  be  done  at  the  time  when  they  are  slightly 
damp,  as  a  better  polish  is  then  given  to  them. 

There  are  a  number  of  presses  in  use  which  are  generally  good.  A 
nickel-plating  is  given  to  many  presses,  because  it  prevents  their 
rusting. 

There  are,  of  course,  a  number  of  different  size  presses  for  large 
and  small  prints.  The  common  cartes  and  Imperial  prints  should 
never  be  rolled  on  the  large  press. 

The  press,  before  use,  should  be  thoroughly  cleansed  with  a  piece 
of  cotton-flannel  and  a  little  common  alcohol. 

When  not  in  use  always  keep  the  presses  covered .  About  once  a 
week  they  should  be  thoroughly  cleansed  and  oiled  with  a  drop  or 
two  of  sweet  oil. 

When  the  press  is  cleaned  the  prints  are,  one  at  a  time,  to  be 
placed  in  between  the  rollers,  either  face  up  or  face  down,  accord- 
ing as  to  which  roller  is  the  polisher.  They  should  be  placed  in 
with  the  left  hand,  while  with  the  right  the  crank  is  turned.  The 
pressure  at  the  press  should  not  be  so  heavy  that  the  operator  at  it 
will  experience  any  difficulty  whatever  in  turning  the  crank  with 
one  hand,  while  the  press  is  fed  with  the  other. 

Do  not  stop  turning  the  crank  while  a  print  is  between  the  rolkrs,  or 
it  will  be  creased,  and  consequently  ruined. 

Roll  the  print  once  lengthwise,  and  then  twice  sideways,  and 
when  the  roller  has  taken  hold  of  the  card  on  the  one  side,  place 
your  hand  over  to  the  other  side  of  the  press  where  it  comes  out ; 
take  hold  of  the  card  when  it  appears,  and  bend  it  so  that  the  back 
will  bend  in  slightly,  and  thus  give  the  picture  the  look  of  being 
pressed  forward.  Bend  in  the  back  of  the  card  but  a  very  little 
however. 

Entrekin's  Oscillating  Enameller,  Tig.  40,  is  an  excellent  thing, 
and  should  be  used  more,  and  then  again  less  ;  more  by  a  greater 


FINISHING   THE   PRINTS.  133 

number  of  photographers,  less  in  obtaining  so  much  gloss,  which  is 
generally  overdone. 

FIG.  40. 


The  enameller  is  good  for  several  reasons,  among  which  are  the 
following : 

1st.  It  decidedly  improves  the  tone  of  the  print. 

2d.  It  makes  the  general  appearance  of  the  print  richer. 

3d.  It  gives  transparency  and  beauty  to  the  whole  print,  espe- 
cially in  the  shadows. 

The  prints,  after  they  are  rolled,  are  ready  to  receive  the  final  treat- 
ment, which  ends  the  processes  through  which  they  have  to  go 
before  delivery. 

WAXING  OF  THE  PRINTS. 

For  the  purpose  of  finding  the  best  thing  for  waxing  the  prints, 
I  have  at  the  expense  of  considerable  time  experimented,  and  I 
have,  I  think,  succeeded  in  finding  what  I  was  after  ;  and  although 
it  is  not  new,  yet  I  can  recommend  it  to  be  the  best — of  more  than  a 
score  of  kinds  of  pastes  that  I  have  made — mainly  on  account  of  its 
cheapness,  and  simplicity  in  the  making. 

Marseilles  soap  is  most  generally  used  in  the  making  of  this  paste, 
and  for  those  who  may  wish  a  formula  containing  it  the  one  below 
will  be  found  to  be  excellent. 

Virgin  White  Wax, 2  ounces. 

White  Marseilles  Soap 1}£    " 

Boiling  Water, 2       " 

Cut  both  the  wax  and  soap  into  very  thin  slivers,  and  place  in  a 
clean  china  mug  containing  the  boiling  water,  and  place  the  mug 
with  its  contents  into  a  tin-pan  also  containing  boiling  water,  the 
whole  of  which  is  placed  on  a  hot  stove.  Add  the  wax  and  soap,  a 
portion  at  a  time,  until  all  are  dissolved. 


134 


THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


I  recommend  the  dissolving  of  the  soap  and  wax  in  small  quan- 
tities, as  it  will  be  more  thoroughly  done. 

In  obtaining  Marseilles  soap  always  procure  the  white,  and  never 
the  spotted.  While  the  wax  and  soap  are  dissolving  stir  thoroughly 
with  a  clean  glass  rod.  This  paste,  when  made,  will  have  the  con- 
sistency of  u cosmoline."  When  cooled,  it  is  ready  for  use,  and 
should  be  applied  as  will  be  given  below.  A  few  drops  either  of  the 
essence  of  lavender,  cloves,  citronella,  rosemary,  bergamot,  &c., 
may  be  added  to  give  an  agreeable  odor  to  the  paste. 

There  are  other  formulae  containing  benzole,  oil  of  spike,  gum 
elemi,  &c.,  in  various  proportions,  which  ingredients  being  a  little 
difficult  to  obtain,  and  to  prepare,  it  is  a  matter  of  considerable 
trouble  to  the  beginner,  consequently  I  will  not  place  them  here. 

Out  of  all  of  the  different  kinds  of  paste  I  have  made,  I  have  set- 
tled down  to  that  of  plain  wax  and  spirits  of  turpentine. 
It  is  made  as  follows  : 

White  wax  is  placed  in  a  common  clean  china  mug ;  which  mug 
is  placed,  as  above  described,  in  a  pan  containing  water,  which  is 
kept  at  a  boiling  state  by  being  placed  over  the  gas-stove. 

Dissolve  about  two  or  three  ounces  of  the  wax  in  the  mug,  and 
then  gradually  add  about  three-quarters  as  much  spirits  of  turpen- 
tine as  there  is  dissolved  wax,  stirring  well  all  of  the  time,  and 
finally  add  of  some  essence — as  the  essence  of  bergamot — in  quantity 
sufficient  to  destroy  the  smell  of  the  spirits ;  said  quantity  being 
about  half  an  ounce.  Stir  the  whole  thing  well. 

So  that  a  quantity  of  photographs  can  be  waxed 
in  a  comparatively  short  time,  I  made  a  couple  of 
wooden  frames  (Fig.  41),  one  for  the  small  carte,  and 
another  for  the  Imperial. 

They  are  very  simple  in  construction,  being  merely 
a  suitable-size  piece  of  planed  pine  wood  (upon  which 
the  back  of  the  card  rests  while  waxing),  with  nar- 
row strips  of  wood  nailed  on  the  top,  bottom,  and 
on  one  side  of  them. 

The  prints  are  placed  in  these  frames  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
them  from  slipping  about.  Instead  of  having  the  strips  A  A  A 
fastened  to  the  main  board,  as  it  is  in  Fig.  41,  they  (the  strips)  can 
be  movable,  and  fastened  to  the  print  when  necessary  by  means  of  a 
thumb-screw. 

By  the  aid  of  these  frames  I  have  thoroughly  waxed  one  hundred 
cartes  de  visile  photographs  in  an  hour  and  a  quarter. 

This  paste  should  be  applied  to  the  prints  by  placing  a  small  quan- 
tity on  the  hardest  (i.  e.,  the  unnapped)  side  of  some  Canton  flannel, 


FIG.  41. 


FINISHING   THE    PBINTS.  135 

and  rubbing  it  well  over  every  part  of  the  print,  and  then  with  an- 
other and  a  cleaner  piece  of  flannel  the  surface  of  the  print  is  rubbed 
briskly  until  quite  dry,  and  then  the  final  polish  is  given  by  using 
the  soft  (napped)  side  of  the  same  piece. 

I  have  recommended  to  use  the  harder  side  of  the  flannel  first,  be- 
cause if  the  other  is  used  before  the  greater  part  of  the  wax  is  rubbed 
dry  it  will  remove  the  stringy  cotton  stuff,  and  thus  it  would  be 
rubbed  in  the  wax  on  the  surface  of  the  print,  which  will,  especially 
when  looked  at  obliquely,  show  very  badly.  Rubbing  quickly  will 
give  a  most  marvellous  polish  to  the  prints,  especially  if  it  has  pre- 
viously been  rolled,  and  assists  wonderfully  in  bringing  out  detail  in 
the  deep  shadows,  and  also  gives  a  fine  effect  to  the  whole  print. 

Soiled  photographs  are  rendered!  so  clean  by  the  use  of  this  paste 
that  they  will  look  like  fresh  ones. 

The  prints,  when  waxed,  should  be  allowed  to  remain  all  night, 
or  at  least  for  a  few  hours,  in  a  cool  and  thoroughly  clean  room. 


Part  II. 

PLAIN   PAPER   PRINTING. 


CHAP'TER    I. 
SALTING  THE  PAPER. 

To  be  sure  to  have  a  good  quality  of  paper  for  sensitizing,  we 
almost  invariably  salt  it  ourselves  ;  and  as  it  is  not  at  all  difficult 
to  do,  we  should  advise  our  readers  to  do  it. 

There  are  in  the  market  a  number  of  good  papers,  which  can  be 
purchased  and  be  relied  upon  as  being  excellent ;  two  of  these  are 
Anthony's  Tapioca  and  Clemons's  Arrowroot  papers. 

When  the  printers  wish  to  salt  their  own  paper  the  following  for- 
mula will  be  found  to  be  excellent : 

Pure  Rain-water, 60  ounces. 

Chloride  of  Ammonium, 360  grains. 

Gelatin,     .  120      " 

We  add  the  gelatin  to  the  solution,  as  it  gives  a  much  better  sur- 
face for  the  ink-worker  to  work  on.  Mix  in  a  large  wide-mouth 
bottle,  in  which  the  60  ounces  of  water  is  first  placed.  This  water 
may  be  used  quite  warm  if  the  printer  is  in  a  hurry,  as  the  chloride 
will  be  dissolved  more  readily. 

The  gelatin  to  be  dissolved  is  placed  in  a  small  evaporating-dish, 
and  a  small  quantity  of  water  (about  four  ounces)  is  taken  from  the 
sixty  ounces  in  the  bottle,  and  added  to  it. 

The  dish  is  placed  on  a  hot  stove,  and  the  water  is  heated  to  a 
boiling  state.  When  this  gelatin  is  dissolved  add  the  liquid  to  the 
bottle  containing  the  dissolved  chloride,  and  stir  very  thoroughly, 
either  with  a  clean  glass  rod  or  by  repeated  shakings  of  the  bottle. 
Filter  the  solution,  when  it  has  cooled,  through  a  couple  of  thick- 
nesses of  good  filtering-paper  into  another  wide-mouth  bottle.  Al- 


SALTING   THE   PAPER.  137 

ways  keep  the  bottle  covered  with  a  clean  glass  when  not  in  use, 
whether  it  has  the  solution  in  it  or  not. 

This  solution  should  always  be  filtered  again  immediately  after  use. 

When  ready  to  salt  the  paper  we  obtain  a  suitable  size  dish— a 
half-size  porcelain  dish  will  do— and  thoroughly  dean  and  rinse  it. 

Pour  the  solution  in  the  dish,  and  if  there  are  any  bubbles  formed 
in  doing  so,  break  them. 

The  paper  can  either  be  floated  upon  or  drawn  through  the  solu- 
tion. 

If  floated,  examine  the  paper  thoroughly,  and  float  the  side  that 
has  the  finest  grain.  As  the  dish  is  a  half-size  one  the  paper  will 
have  to  be  floated  in  half  sheets ;  but  when  floating  is  adopted,  a 
whole-size  dish  had  best  be  used.  Float  ten  seconds. 

If  you  prefer  to  draw  the  paper  through,  which  is  the  way  most 
generally  recommended  and  followed  out,  then  place  the  dish  con- 
taining the  solution  in  the  middle  of  the  room  firmly  set  upon  a  stool, 
and  where  there  will  be  plenty  of  elbow  room. 

Take  the  paper  by  the  two  opposite  corners,  place  it  behind  the 
further  side  of  the  dish,  and  permit  it  to  hang  suspended  there. 

Now  draw  the  paper  slowly  over  the  side  of  the  dish,  curving  and 
diving  the  side  which  you  have  hold  of  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
solution.  Do  not  pause,  but  continue  drawing  the  paper  over  the 
side  of  the  dish  and  under  the  surface,  being  careful  that  you  wet 
all  parts  of  it,  and  then  hold  the  sheet  over  the  dish  by  the  same 
corners  which  were  taken  hold  of  in  the  first  place,  and  allow  the 
solution  to  drain  from  the  sheet  into  the  dish. 

The  most  important  part  of  this  simple  process  is  to  get  the  paper 
under  the  solution  at  first  in  drawing  it  through,  and  to  do  this  we 
have  recommended  the  use. of  sixty  ounces  of  solution  in  the  dish 
(a  hundred  would  be  better  still),  as  the  paper  can  be  drawn  .under 
better  than  it  could  with  a  less  quantity.  When  drained  the  paper 
should  be  hung  up  by  the  two  corners  in  a  warm  room  to  dry.  .Do 
not  hang  up  to  dry,  plain  salted  and  sensitized  paper  by  the  same  pins. 

The  air  should  be  absolutely  free  from  all  dust  in  the  drying-room 
while  the  paper  is  drying.  This  solution  can  be  used  repeatedly  ; 
the  bubbles  should  be  removed  from  the  solution  every  time  they  ap- 
pear. These  bubbles  are  caused  principally  by  the  dripping  of  the 
solution  into  the  dish,  when  the  sheet  of  freshly  salted  paper  is  sus- 
pended over  it.  The  forming  of  these  bubbles  can,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, be  avoided  if  the  sheet  had  its  lower  corner  in  the  dish,  and 
besides  draining  as  well  as  before,  there  will  not  be  any  drops  that 
will  fall  any  distance  from  the  sheet,  so  as  to  occasion  the  bubbles. 

If  after  salting,  and  while  the  paper  is  draining,  there  should  be 

10 


138  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

seen  any  bubbles  on  the  paper,  blow  at  them,  and  break  them  as 
soon  as  possible.  After  you  are  through  using  the  solution  pour  it 
back  in  a  bottle,  and  filter  it  into  its  former  receptacle. 

Clean  thoroughly  the  dish,  and  set  it  away,  bottom  side  up,  on 
some  clean  paper. 

Such  is  our  mode  of  salting,  which  we  always  find  productive  of 
excellent  results. 


CHAPTER    II. 
POSITIVE  BATHS  FOB  PLAIN  SALTED  PAPEE. 

THE  paper  when  salted  and  dried  is  ready  to  be  sensitized.  A 
different  bath  is  most  generally  used  for  the  plain  paper,  as  will  be 
explained  further  on. 

A  plain  bath  of  nitrate  of  silver,  forty  grains  strong  to  the  ounce  of 
water,  can  be  used  ;  such  a  bath  being  very  strongly  recommended 
by  many  of  our  first-class  photographers  as  the  very  best  for  plain 
paper  use.  It  is  most  assuredly  excellent.  For  plain  paper  a  plain 
nitrate  of  silver  bath — 30  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver,  water  1  ounce — 
is  the  best. 

Then,  again,  the  ammonio-nitrate  bath  is  very  often  used.  It  is 
made  as  follows  : 

Make  up  60  ounces  of  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver  so  that  it  will 
be  40  grains  strong  of  the  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water.  Take  two- 
thirds  of  this  solution  (40  ounces),  and  add  aqua  ammonia  to  it  until 
it  has  become  clear  after  it  has  once  become  muddy.  While  adding 
this  ammonia,  add  a  few  drops  of  it  at  a  time,  stirring  well  after 
each  addition.  Now  add  the  remaining  one- third  to  the  two-thirds, 
stir  well,  and  filter  before  use. 

When  the  paper  does  not  foul  the  solution  the  albumen  silver-bath 
is  used  by  a  very  great  many  photographers,  and  it  is  floated  upon 
it  in  the  same  way  as  the  albumen  paper.  Although  it  does  not  seem 
to  hurt  the  bath  for  albumen  paper  in  some  cases,  yet  the  plain 
paper  undoubtedly  discolors  the  bath  quicker  and  deeper,  and  is 
Likely  in  time  to  get  many  impurities  in  it  that  will  after  awhile 
hurt  the  albumen  paper.  For  this  reason  we  have  always  been  in 
favor  of  a  different  solution  for  the  plain  paper,  and  always  use  such, 
whether  we  float  or  swab  our  paper,  as  then  if  we  should  prefer  at 
any  time  to  float  our  paper  we  can  do  so.  We  should  advise  the 


SILVERING   PLAIN   SALTED   PAPER.  139 

beginner  to  use  a  different  bath  for  the  plain  paper  until  he  had  ex- 
perience enough  to  observe  the  effects  of  floating  plain  paper  on  the 
albumen  paper  bath. 

The  care  of  this  bath  is  the  same  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  the  albu- 
men paper  bath.  (See  Chapter  I,  Part  I.) 


CHAPTER   III. 
SILVERING  PLAIN  SALTED  PAPER. 

THERE  are  two  ways  of  silvering  the  paper,  which  are  about 
equally  in  favor.  The  first  of  these,  floating,  we  will  here  mention. 

This  floating  is  done  in  the  same  way  as  the  floating  of  the  albu- 
men paper,  and,  as  is  the  case  with  the  latter,  there  is  also  a  certain 
side  of  the  paper  that  is  to  be  floated  on  the  solution. 

This  side  is  the  finest  grained  side  of  the  two,  and  to  determine 
which  is  the  one,  take  the  paper  over  to  the  light,  and  by  compar- 
ing closely  the  two  it  can  easily  be  told.  The  reason  why  the  finest 
side  is  used  is  because  the  resulting  print  will  be  finer,  and  then 
again  commercial  salted  paper  is  often  salted  only  on  this  side.  The 
time  the  paper  is  to  be  floated  is  easily  learned  by  observing  the 
results  of  differently  timed  pieces  of  the  same  sheet  of  paper. 

It  is  a  good  plan  for  the  beginner  to  cut  a  sheet  of  plain  salted 
paper  into  four  equal  parts,  i.  e.,  quarter  it,  and  mark  on  the  back 
of  one  fifteen  seconds,  and  on  the  others  respectively  twenty-five 
seconds,  thirty-five  seconds,  and  forty-five  seconds,  and  float  them 
separately  for  the  exact  time  designated  on  the  back  of  each.  Com- 
mence to  time  each  one  of  these  pieces  when  the  paper  has  thor- 
oughly become  flattened  after  it  was  breathed  upon  to  preve*ht  it 
from  curling  over.  Dry  thoroughly,  and  fume  them  all  the  same 
length  of  time,  not  less  than  eight  or  ten  minutes.  If  the  ammonio- 
nitrate  bath  is  used,  far  IQSS  fuming  is  required. 

Print  in  the  same  quality  of  light,  under  the  same  negative^  and 
to  the  same  depth.  Compare  the  result,  and  float  the  rest  of  the 
paper  for  the  time  specified  on  the  back  of  the  print  which  gave  the 
best  result  of  the  four  pieces. 

The  above  is  probably  the  best  way  for  the  beginner  to  learn,  and 
after  he  has  once  learned  it,  he  can  in  the  future  tell  very  nearly 


140  THE    PRACTICAL    PRINTER. 

how  long  the  paper  should  be  floated,  making  allowance  for  the 
quality  of  the  negatives,  temperature,  light,  &c.,  &c. 

In  judging  of  the  quality  of  the  printed  plain  paper,  so  as  to  de- 
cide which  is  the  best,  there  are  a  few  things  which  we  will  men- 
tion, that  will,  we  think,  guide  the  beginner  a  little. 

If  the  negative  is  a  fair  one  (which  is  about  the  one  you  should 
use  in  trying  the  paper),  and  the  resulting  print  is  "  mealy  " — which 
mealiness  consists  in  the  presence  of  spots  of  various  sizes,  and  also 
of  a  flat  reddish  color — then  the  time  of  silvering  is  evidently  not 
what  we  desire.  These  spots  show  more  plainly  in  the  shadows  and 
draperies.  If  the  resulting  print  is  as  just  described,  then  the  paper 
has  not  been  floated  long  enough.  This  mealiness  can  be  very  dis- 
tinctly seen  by  holding  the  print  between  you  and  the  light.  The 
back  of  such  paper  remains  as  white  as  it  was  before  it  was  sensi- 
tized, never  being  discolored  while  printing  on  account  of  the  heat, 
but  only  on  account  of  its  being  improperly  exposed  to  the  light. 

Then  again,  if  the  paper  is  silvere,d  or  floated  for  too  long  a  time, 
it  will  not  have  the  reddish  spots  in  the  shadows,  &c.,  neither  will 
"it  be  white  on  the  back  (for  the  heat  of  the  sun  will  discolor  it),  but 
the  paper  will  have  a  smutty  appearance,  as  though  the  back  of  the 
prints  had  been  exposed  for  a  few  seconds  to  the  strong  diffused 
light,  and  thus  discolored.  Now  examine  the  face  of  the  two  prints 
once  more,  and  you  will  observe  that  the  long-silvered  paper  will 
have  a  sunken-in  appearance.  This  sunken-in  appearance  will,  in  a 
great  measure,  disappear  in  the  final  operations  of  the  printer,  but 
that  is  not  the  object,  for  the  object  is  to  get  it  so  that  it  will  be  all 
right  when  it  is  just  printed,  and  before  it  is  toned. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say,  however,  that  the  above-specified  differ- 
ence of  time  given  for  floating  different  pieces  of  the  same  sheet  of 
paper  will  give  all  of  the  above-given  results,  for  in  the  case  of  long 
floating,  which  gives  the  appearance  of  the  sunken-in  print,  the 
paper  will  have  to  be  floated  a  minute  or  so  to  give  this  result. 

The  writer  remembers  one  time  of  having  occasion  to  use  some 
plain  paper  in  a  strange  gallery.  As  he  had  to  use  the  paper  that 
•day,  and  being  very  busy  with  his  other  prints,  he  did  not  have  the 
'time  to  salt  some  for  use,  and  npon  finding  some  plain  paper  (which 
was  not  marked)  he  thought  that  he  would  use  that,  after  having  ap- 
plied his  tongue  to  the  corner,  and  knowing  that  it  had  been  salted. 
There  were  only  two  sheets  of  the  paper  on  hand,  and  as  he  wished  a 
full  sheet,  and  being  in  a  hurry,  he  did  not  wish  to  silver  it  either  too 
long  or  too  short  a  time,  but  as  he  suspected  it  was  some  of  Clemons's, 
:he  thought  that  he  would  float  it  twenty  seconds,  especially  after 
having  asked  the  employer  about  how  long  he  thought  Mr.  S.,  the 


SILVERING   PLAIN   SALTED   PAPER.  141 

former  printer,  had  silvered  his  plain  paper,  and  although  he  could 
not  tell  for  certain,  yet  he  thought  that  it  was  about  that  time.     He 
floated  it  twenty  seconds,  and  after  having  fumed  it,  he  placed  it  out 
to  print,  and  upon  looking  at  it  next  time  he  found 
that  the  print  presented  a  funny  appearance,  fa-  FlG-  4?. 

miliar  to  the  experienced  printer,  but  to  the  be- 
ginner it  may  not  be  so  (Fig.  42). 

The  paper  printed  in  spots,  i.  e.,  some  parts  of  it 
would  print,  and  then  again  some  parts  had  not 
shown  the  least  signs  of  printing.  Each  of  these 
dark  and  white  spots  were  about  the  size  of  a  pea. 

I  floated  the  other  sheet  full  thirty-five  seconds, 
and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  I  had  as  finely  printing- 
plain  paper  as  I  ever  saw. 

Plain  paper,  when  floated  too  long  a  time,  will  turn  yellow  in  a 
short  time,  as  for  instance  remaining  over  night,  even  in  the  month 
of  October. 

Paper  floated  just  right  will  keep  two  or  even  three  days  in  excel- 
lent condition,  even  if  the  month  is  that  of  October. 

The  other  way  to  sensitize  plain  salted  paper  is  that  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  a  swabbing  the  paper." 

Paper  which  is  sensitized  in  this  way  turns  yellow  very  quickly, 
so  very  much  so  that  it  is  necessary  in  summer  to  delay  silvering- 
it  until  you  will  have  time  to  print  it  up  immediately,  i.  e. ,  as  soon 
as  it  is  dried  and  fumed,  as  letting  it  remain  for  two  or  three  hours 
before  use  will  often  discolor  it  like  unto  saffron.  This  can  in  a 
measure  be  avoided  by  placing  the  dark-box  containing  it  in  as  cool 
a  place  as  possible.  The  silver  solution  is  more  absorbed  by  the 
paper  by  this  mode  of  treatment  than  by  floating,  and  consequently 
the  heat  affects  it  more. 

The  swab  is  made  as  follows  :  Obtain  a  piece  of  wood  about  four 
inches  long,  one  inch  wide,  and  one  inch  in  thickness.  Take  two  or 
three  square  pieces  of  canton  flannel,  size  4x4  inches,  and  cover  this 
block  with  it,  having  the  napped  side  of  the  flannel  out.  This  will 
give  a  soft  cushion  to  rub  the  paper  with.  (Examine  Figs.  43  and  44.) 

FIG.  43.  FIG.  44. 


To  prevent  the  stringy  fibre  from  being  left  on  the  paper  while 
sensitizing  it,  I  am  in  the  habit  of  snapping  well  each  piece  of  the 
flannel  before  fastening  it  to  the  block,  to  get  rid  of  the  loose  cotton. 


142  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

FIG.  45.  The  fine  side  of  the  paper  is  placed  uppermost  on  a  suit- 
able size  board ;  this  board  is  covered  with  clean  white  blotting- 


F;G.  45. 
A 


paper,  which  presents  a  clean  surface  to  the  back  of  the  paper.  This 
board  only  needs  to  be  an  inch  or  two  longer  and  wider  than  the 
sheet  of  paper,  and  when  not  in  use  it  can  be  used  as  a  covering  for 
the  whole-size  silvering-dish,  in  which  the  printing-bath  is  kept 
during  the  day. 

The  plain  paper  should  be  tacked  to  the  board  by  galvanized  iron 
tacks,  and  not  with  the  common  carpet  tacks,  for  the  silver  touch- 
ing them  will  invariably  cause  a  stain  across  the  paper,  running 
from  the  corner  where  the  silver  has  touched  the  tack. 

About  a  couple  of  ounces  of  the  silver  solution  is  filtered  in  a 
small  vial,  and  this  vial  is  taken  in  the  left  hand,  and  the  swab  fixed 
conveniently  in  the  right. 

Now  pour  a  small  stream  of  the  solution  across  the  width,  from 
A  to  A  (Fig.  45),  and  immediately  attack  it  with  the  swab,  and  dis- 
tribute evenly  the  solution  over  all  parts  of  the  paper  until  it  has 
taken  the  liquid  up. 

By  drawing  the  swab  evenly  from  left  to  right,  and  then  from 
right  to  left,  coming  at  times  nearer,  and  then  proceeding  from  you, 
you  will  thus  distribute  it  equally  over  the  surface.  In  the  pouring 
on  of  the  solution,  try  to  regulate  the  quantity  of  liquid  so  that  just 
enough  will  be  poured  on  at  one  time ;  a  half  ounce  being  about 
what  is  needed. 

Fresh  canton  flannel  should  be  used  every  day,  but  the  flannel 
used  in  the  morning  will  answer  for  the  rest  of  the  day's  use.  Can- 
ton flannel  that  has  been  used  repeatedly  is  bad. 


DEYING,    FUMING,    AND   CUTTING   THE   PAPER.         143 


CHAPTEK   IV. 
DRYING,  FUMING,  AND  CUTTING  THE  PAPER, 

DRYING. 

THE  paper,  after  it  is  floated  or  swabbed,  as  the  case  may  be,  is 
then  hung  up  in  a  small  room,  by  two  of  the  corners,  to  dry.  This 
room  is  generally  heated  by  a  small  gas  stove,  a  small  jet  of  gas 
doing  the  work  in  a  very  short  time. 

To  prevent  the  paper  from  curling  up  while  drying,  a  stick  hav- 
ing a  spring  clip  nailed  at  each  end  is  fastened  to  the  two  lower 
corners  of  the  paper.  , 

^  To  save  the  few  drops  of  silver  solution  which  fall  from  the  paper, 
lay  some  sheets  of  bibulous  paper  on  the  floor  directly  under  each 
sheet. 

FUMING. 

When  thoroughly  dried,  the  paper  is  ready  to  be  fumed.  The 
time  of  fuming  is  generally  from  ten  to  fifteen  minutes. 

In  fuming  plain  paper,  fume  it  long  enough  to  print  blue,  and 
neither  red  nor  brown,  as  it  will  print  stronger  by  so  doing.  In 
fuming  plain  paper  a  much  less  time  is  required  to  reach  this  blue 
state  than  is  the  case  with  albumen  paper. 

CUTTING. 

It  is  very  seldom  that  any  pieces  smaller  than  a  4-4  is  cut,  as  the 
ordinary  4-4  copy  is  generally  the  smallest  ink-print  that  is  made. 
An  ordinary  ivory  paper-cutter  can  be  used  for  this  purpose.  In 


FIG.  46. 


FIG.  47. 


cutting  the  paper  take  the  sheet  and  lay  the  length  before  you  in 
the  drawer,  the  width  thus  running  from  left  to  right. 

FIG.  46.  Now  bend  the  paper  over  to  A,  and  crease  it  at  B,  and 


144  THE  PRACTICAL  PRINTER. 

then  cut  the  paper  at  this  crease  with  the  ivory  knife.  Divide  the 
remaining  two-thirds  equally,  and  then  the  length  of  each  of  the 
three  narrow  strips  is  divided  into  two  equal  pieces,  and  thus  you 
will  have  six  4-4 's  of  an  equal  size,  which  will  be  plenty  large  enough 
for  the  desired  purpose. 

When  I  wish  to  obtain  the  next  size,  10  x  12.  I  take  a  quarter  of 
a  whole  sheet  of  the  plain  paper. 

FIG.  47.  To  obtain  the  next  size,  11x14,  I  lay  the  length  of  the 
sheet  before  me,  as  I  do  in  obtaining  4-4 's,  and  bend  over  the  sheet 
until  the  edge  of  the  paper  which  was  nearest  to  me  comes  within 
about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  of  its  opposite  side. 

The  largest  of  these  two  pieces  I  use  for  the  11  x  14,  as  there  will 
be  plenty  of  room  by  so  doing  to  guard  against  the  paper  being  a 
little  too  narrow  when  the  mat  is  placed  over  it. 

When  I  desire  14  x!7  pieces  I  bend  over  as  in  4-4's,  and  take  the 
two-thirds  of  the  sheet.  For  anything  larger  I  use  the  whole  sheet. 

Always,  when  about  to  cut  your  paper,  be  sure  that  your  hands, 
as  well  as  shears  and  ivory  paper-cutter,  are  thoroughly  free  from 
grease,  or  anything  that  will  discolor  the  paper. 

Keep  the  paper  in  a  dark  and  cool  place  before  and  after  cutting, 
and  while  cutting  it  do  not  let  any  white  light  fall  upon  it. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TREATMENT  OF  THE  NEGATIVES  BEFORE 
PRINTING. 

IT  is  my  object  here  in  this  chapter  to  give  the  cases  in  which  a 
day's  batch  of  negatives  should  be  "doctored"  before  they  are 
ready  to  have  their  orders  printed  from  them.  In  the  first  part  of 
this  book  I  have  treated  of  similar  things  to  the  negatives  that  are 
to  have  albumen  prints  printed  from  them,  but  those  negatives  are 
as  far  superior  to  those  of  the  copies,  as  the  palace  of  the  rich  man 
is  to  that  of  the  miserable  hut  of  the  pauper.  In  the  former  chapter 
I  have  treated  of  negatives  taken  from  life,  the  most  of  which  are 
vastly  superior  to  the  majority  of  copies  that  are  to  be  printed,  con- 
sequently more  pains  are  to  be  taken  with  the  copies  than  with  the 
life  negatives  if  the  printers  desire  to  have  the  result  as  fine  as 
possible. 

It  is  often  thought  by  the  printers,  even  those  who  have  printed 


TEEATMENT   OF   THE   NEGATIVES   BEFORE   FEINTING.      145 

for  years,  that  in  plain-paper  printing  there  is  no  trouble  whatever, 
as  they  have  got  to  be  worked  up  by  the  finisher,  and  as  they  are 
copies  the  result  will  be  as  good  as  the  customers  have  a  right  to 
expect.  That  person  is  on  the  wrong  track. 

There  are  a  multitude  of  things  to  be  done  in  printing  copies 
which  are  often  very  troublesome.  Unfortunately  in  many  galleries 
the  photographer  is  not  pit  id  as  he  should  be  to  obtain  the  best 
results  from  the  copies,  when  the  time  alone  which  should  be  occupied 
by  the  printer  and  ink-worker  will  come  to  about  what  he  asks  for 
his  work,  and  then  where  is  the  profit  to  come  from  for  his  and  his 
assistant's  time  V 

Now  the  better  the  prints  the  printer  obtains  from  his  negatives, 
the  better  will  the  result  be  when  worked  up,  because  then  the  fin- 
isher's work  can  be  better  done. 

Let  us  suppose  that  two  printers  have  each  a  plain-paper  print  to 
print  from  the  same  negative,  each  one  not  being  permitted  to  see 
the  print  of  the  other  until  they  are  ready  to  be  toned. 

One  of  these  printers  takes  up  the  negative,  looks  through  it, 
touches  out  the  pinholes,  if  there  are  any,  and  prints  it ;  under  the 
negative  a  piece  of  paper  is  placed,  without  any  special  notice  having 
been  given  to  it,  to  see  as  to  whether  it  is  excellent  or  not ;  his 
print  is  printed  and  placed  away  until  toning-time. 

This  printer  passes  the  negative  to  the  other  printer,  who  also 
looks  through  it,  and  touches  out  the  pinholes  which  the  former 
printer  of  the  negative  removed  when  he  was  through  with  it. 

But  this  printer  does  not  stop  here ;  he  observes  the  heavy 
shadows  which  will  print  black  without  any  detail  whatever  (making 
it  an  impossible  task  for  the  finisher  to  finish  them  up  as  they 
should  be),  and  proceeds  to  remove  them  in  a  measure ;  i.  e.,  he 
lightens  them,  so  that  they  will  not  be  so  dark  as  they  would  be  if 
this  was  not  done,  and  consequently  better  results  are  obtainable 
by  the  artist.  He  notices  then  that  the  face,  hands,  and  arms  are 
flat,  and  the  last-mentioned  limbs  are  also  very  dark.  He  cures  this 
flatness. m  a  measure,  and  makes  the  hands  and  arms  white.  Besides 
the  above,  he  notices  that  other  parts  of  the  negatives  can  be  im- 
proved, and  he  proceeds  to  do  it. 

Examine  the  two  prints :  what  a  difference  there  will  be  between 
the  two  ;  but  let  us  not  stop  here,  but  have  them  toned,  &c.,  and 
finished  up  by  the  same  artist,  having  previously  marked  the  names 
of  the  printers  on  the  back  of  the  mounts  of  their  respective  prints. 
Now  compare  the  two  ! 

In  one  print  the  shadows,  especially  those  under  the  eyebrows 
and  chin,  are  very  black,  without  the  least  signs  of  detail,  looking 


146  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

very  much  like  a  smutch  of  lampblack,  and  the  face,  in  spite  of  all 
the  efforts  of  the  finisher,  is  flat,  while  the  hands  and  arms  are 
hideously  black. 

The  other  print  is  exactly  the  reverse ;  the  shadows  are  as  they 
should  be,  the  face  is  bold  (in  comparison),  the  hands  and  arms 
look  like  the  hands  and  arms  of  a  white  person  rather  than  those  of 
a  darkey,  as  the  other  print  would  lead  us  to  take  the  picture  to  be, 
and  in  fact  this  whole  print  is  very  much  better  than  the  other. 

The  better  the  print  is,  the  better  result  can  be  obtained  by  the 
finishing  artist. 

Having  given  the  beginner  an  idea  as  to  the  importance  of  print- 
ing from  copy  negatives,  I  will  pass  on,  and  tell  what  is  to  be  "  doc- 
tored,'? and  how  it  should  be  done. 

SHADOWS. 

We  will  first  consider  the  heavy  shadows  in  these  negatives. 

It  is  known  by  all  photographers  that  such  shadows,  if  there  are 
any,  are  generally  very  heavy,  and  they  should  always  be  removed 
in  a  great  measure. 

(I  will  here  mention  that  the  beginner  should  always  be  on  his 
guard  in  "  doctoring  "  the  negatives,  so  that  he  will  not  overdo  it.) 

These  shadows  are  found  more  or  less  under  the  eyebrows,  and 
often  in  the  forehead,  which  latter  place  will  look  like  a  deep  depres- 
sion there. 

They  are  also  found  sometimes  under  the  eyes,  in  the  cheeks, 
and  a  whole  side  of  the  face  often  being  very  black.  They  are  also 
found  very  slightly  under  the  nose,  and  under  the  chin — the  latter 
place  being  the  place  where  the  heaviest  shadows  are  generally 
found.  Such  shadows  are  also  found  in  the  receding  ear  (the  whole 
ear  sometimes  being  very  black),  also  on  the  hands  and  arms. 

They  may  be  removed  lay  the  use  of  the  "everlasting  blue-paint 
dodge,"  which  has  been  so  very  often  spoken  of  in  the  first  part  of 
this  book. 

HEAVY  LIKES. 

There  are  often  heavy  lines  in  the  forehead,  running  parallel  to 
each  other,  and  parallel  to  the  line  of  the  eyes.  There  are  also  some 
few  between  the  eyes,  running  far  into  the  forehead,  and  crossing 
the  others. 

There  are  also  some  found  running  from  both  sides  of  the  nose  to 
the  corners  of  the  mouth,  and  in  the  case  of  elderly  persons  from 
that  place  (the  mouth)  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  chin.  There  are 
lines  oftentimes  in  the  neck,  especially  so  when  the  neck  is  bony, 


TREATMENT   OF   THE   NEGATIVES   BEFORE   PRINTING.      147 

caused  by  the  head  being  turned  away  from  the  body  in  a  forced 
and  stiff  position. 

The  way  to  get  rid  of  such  is  to  take  the  negative  to  the  retoucher 
and  get  him  to  remove  (or  do  it  yourself)  the  greater  part  of  them. 
Be  careful  not  to  overdo  this,  but  leave  something,  in  fact  consider- 
able, for  the  finisher  to  work  at. 

The  face  and  sometimes  the  hands  and  arms  have  lines  in  them 
which  have  not  been  mentioned,  as  in  the  latter  case,  dark  lines 
caused  by  large  veins,  and  consequently  other  places,  besides  what 
I  have  named  above,  should  be  sought  after,  and  attended  to. 

FLATNESS. 

This  is  the  most  difficult  of  all,  and  very  often  the  finisher  had 
rather  have  the  printer  let  it  alone  than  for  him  to  attempt  to  pre- 
vent flatness,  and  make  a  botch  of  it.  This  flatness  is  often  found 
in  the  whole  face,  and  in  the  hands  and  arms. 

When  you  desire  to  prevent  this  flatness  take  it  to  the  retouching- 
frame  and  work  up  those  places  which  you  desire  to  be  lighter,  and 
place  a  high-light  on  the  nose  to  make  it  stand  out  from  the  face. 

To  prevent  flatness  to  the  face,  see  page  52. 

Often  a  thin  stripe  of  blue  paint  along  the  upper  part  of  and  along 
the  length  of  the  arms  is  excellent.  Print  such  negatives  under 
tissue-paper. 

I  have  known  cases  in  which  the  width  of  the  mouth  is  desired  to 
be  less ;  then  touch  out  with  opaque  (or  better  still  with  a  nearly 
opaque  color,  a  heavy  application  of  vermilion  red  answering  well), 
an  equal  space  on  each  side,  unless  one  side  above  may  be  curved, 
being  a  one-sided  smirk,  and  if  that  is  the  case  only  apply  the  color 
on  that  side.  This  color  may  sometimes  be  applied  to  the  back, 
and  sometimes  to  the  face  of  the  negative,  as  may  be  found  best. 

If  the  lips  are  too  thick  take  off  a  portion  of  them  (i.  e.,  if  the  par- 
ties leaving  the  copies  request  the  photographer  to  do  it ;  in  fact  any 
of  the  things  that  I  have  above,  or  shall  below  name,  that  depart 
from  the  original  in  respect  to  likeness  should  never  be  done  unless 
orders  have  been  given  to  that  effect).  If  this  is  taken  off  well,  then 
the  finisher  will  have  an  easy  task  of  making  the  lips  thinner,  by 
making  the  curves  nearer  together.  The  light  places  left  can  be 
worked  up  to  obtain  the  same  tone  as  the  rest  of  the  surrounding 
flesh. 

Sometimes  there  are  cases  when  a  hat  or  bonnet  is  to  be  taken 
off,  and  when  that  is  so,  you  will  find  heavy  shadows  in  the  fore- 
head ;  look  out  for  them. 

When  there  is"  a  hat  to  be  taken  off,  then  print  a  proof  of  the  neg- 


148  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

ative  as  it  is  ;  cut  in  exactly  close  to  the  figure,  and  when  you  have 
got  to  the  top  of  the  forehead,  and  where  the  hat  commences,  cut 
right  close,  but  under  the  hat.  Use  the  cut-out  (the  outside  one)  for 
placing  on  the  back  of  the  negative  (so  that  the  thickness  of  the 
glass  will  prevent  it  from  printing  a  sharp  line  on  the  print  when  it 
is  placed  under  a  diffused  light),  being  careful  that  you  get  it  on  as 
it  should  be,  which,  if  you  do  well,  the  resulting  print  will  be  minus 
the  hat,  also  the  upper  part  of  the  head  ;  but  the  finisher  will  supply 
the  deficiency  with  his  brush.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  you  were 
to  feather  it  off  gradually. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
FEINTING- IN  FALSE  BACKGROUNDS. 

THIS  is  a  well-known  and  valuable  dodge  among  photographic 
printers.  It  is  worked  as  follows  : 

First  print  a  proof  of  the  negative  as  it  is,  said  proof  being 
printed  on  a  piece  of  paper  full  as  large  as  the  desired  size  of  the 
finished  print. 

When  printed,  lay  the  proof  on  a  glass,  printed  side  up,  and  with 
a  very  sharp  knife  follow  the  figure  exactly  on  the  margin  of  both  the 
face  and  draperies.  Not  the  least  possible  variation  should  be  made, 
or  the  resulting  print  will  surely  show  it.  No  carelessness  will  an- 
swer at  all  here ;  in  fact,  every  particle  of  the  printer's  attention 
should  be  given  to  his  work,  from  the  beginning  of  the  cutting  until 
he  is  through.  Follow  the  nooks  and  turns  of  the  draperies  and 
hair,  cutting  out  each  curl  faithfully.  Avoid  all  sharp  angles,  and 
let  all  of  the  cutting  be  in  curves  when  corners  are  turned,  and  more 
or  less  wavering  when  following  the  line  of  the  hair.  Particular  at- 
tention should  be  given  when  cutting  in  around  the  face  and  neck  ; 
this  is  especially  the  case  in  the  cutting  out  around  the  cheekbones. 
If  the  printer  thinks  he  can  improve  on  the  cutting  out  if  he  were 
to  cut  another  print,  then  print  another  one  and  do  so.  '  After 
awhile  the  beginner  will  succeed  splendidly. 

After  the  background  is  cut  out,  the  next  process  is  the  pasting  it 
on  the  back  of  the  glass,  which  process  is  one  of  extreme  care.  * 

Do  not  in  pasting  it  on  apply  paste  to  the  whole  print,  but  to  the 
two  upper  corners  of  the  back  part  (i.  e.,  the  glass  .side)  of  the  neg- 
ative.. 


PRINTING-IN   FALSE   BACKGROUNDS.  149 

It  is  often  placed  on  the  varnished  side  of  the  negative,  hut  this, 
unless  done  by  a  person  of  considerable  experience,  is  very  risky,  as 
failure  will  be  certain  for  the  beginner,  for  it  is  often  so  with  the 
experienced  printer.  When  it  is  desired  to  place  the  cut-out  on  the 
varnished  side  of  the  negative,  then  in  printing  in  the  background 
the  mask  is  placed  close  to  the  paper  instead  of  being  placed  on  the 
outside  of  an  intervening  glass,  as  described  below.  I  have  ob- 
tained fine  results  in  the  above  way,  but  as  it  is  much  more  difficult 
than  the  way  I  have  partly  given,  I  very  seldom  do  it. 

When  about  to  paste  the  background  on  the  back  of  the  negative, 
turn  over  the  corners  of  the  paper,  which  are  to  touch  the  corners  of 
the  negative  where  the  paste  is  placed,  as  the  neglect  of  it  will  oc- 
casion some  little  trouble  when  adjusting  the  print  to  the  negative. 

When  it  is  desired  to  adjust  it,  rest  the  negative  on  a  window-sill 
and  look  through  it  to  the  light,  and  then  the  printer  can  more 
easily  and  surely  do  what  he  wishes. 

When  adjusting,  keep  the  paper  smooth,  and  when  properly 
placed,  turn  down  the  corners  and  press  them  in  close  contact  with 
the  paste.  Dry  underpressure,  in  the  sunlight  or  by  the  fire,  so  that 
the  paper  will  not  contract  out  of  place  while  drying,  which  it 
would  be  likely  to  do  if  proper  means  were  not  taken  to  prevent  it 
from  doing  so.  When  dry,  place  it  out  to  print,  either  plain  or  in 
a  vignette  style,  as  ordered  (after  having  placed  the  sensitive  paper 
under  the  negative),  and  print  in  a  strong  diffused  light. 

If  the  print  is  too  long  printing,  the  thickness  of  the  glass  and 
the  slowness  of  the  printing  will  cause  the  negative  to  print  out  too 
far  under  the  masked  background.  When  in  the  making  of  the 
mask  the  printer  were  to  think  that  such  will  be  the  result,  then 
make  allowance  for  the  thickness  of  the  negative,  and  for  the 
weather,  arid  then,  when  necessary,  cut  a  trifle  inside  of  the  hair 
and  such  other  dark  places  that  will  print  quickly,  and  consequently 
feather  or  blend  out  beyond  the  figure  on  to  the  background. 

Do  not  touch  the  face,  however. 

If  the  printer  were  to  cut  a  trifle  inside,  as  written  above,  then  it 
will  feather  out  softly  to  just  about  the  right  distance 
and  not  print  in  any  of  the  background.  Fra- 48- 

FIG.  48.  Now  take  a  suitable  size  glass,  fully  as 
large  as  the  finished  print  is  to  be,  and  lay  it  on  the 
print,  and  then  paste  the  mask  (the  figure  which 
was  cut  out  of  the  background  mask),  by  applying 
a  dot  of  the  paste  at  one  place  on  the  outside  of  the 
glass,  thus  having  the  thickness  of  the  glass  be- 
tween the  mask  and  the  print. 


150  THE   PRACTICAL,   PRINTER. 

Place  the  print  on  a  flat  printing-board,  and  match  the  cut-out 
attached  to  the  glass  to  the  print,  and  then  place  it  out  to  print  in 
a  strong  diffused  light  if  the  picture  is  to  be  plain,  but  if  it  is  to  be 
a  vignette,  then  place  the  vignette-block  over  the  whole,  being  care- 
ful not  to  move  the  glass.  Place  a  tissue-paper  over  the  vignette- 
block,  and  .then  place  frame  and  all  out  face  to  the  sunlight. 

If  the  background  is  to  be  a  plain  one,  print  either  darker  or 
lighter  than  the  face  of  the  figure. 

If  the  figure  is  to  have  a  vignette  background,  then  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases  have  it  light,  and  also  have  a  soft  halo  to  it. 


CHAPTEK   VII. 

GENERAL  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING. 

I 

PLAIN  paper  prints  are  generally  made  so  that,  by  the  aid  of  the 
finisher,  fine  results  can  be  obtained  from  poor  negatives. 

We  seldom  make,  for  the  above  reason,  plain  paper  prints  from 
life  negatives,  but  from  copy  negatives,  i.  e.,  negatives  taken  of 
other  pictures,  either  from  the  poor  ferreotype  or  the  excellent  da- 
guerreotype, and  which  when  enlarged  from  the  size  of  the  picture 
to  be  copied,  all  of  the  roughness  and  defects  on  the  picture  are  also 
enlarged  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  portrait  itself  is,  hence  these 
defects  are  very  ruinous  to  the  fineness  of  the  finished  print,  render- 
ing them  in  many  cases  totally  unfit  for  any  kind  of  printing  that 
cannot  be  worked  up,  and  although  considerable  work  on  albumen 
paper,  in  the  way  of  coloring  with  water  colors,  is  done,  yet  by  far 
the  greater  proportion  of  the  work  is  done  on  plain  paper  and 
worked  up  in  India-ink. 

It  is,  however,  indispensable  with  a  good  copyist  to  take  measures 
to  prevent  as  far  as  possible  these  defects  from  showing,  and  the 
rolling  of  the  prints,  the  cleansing  of  them  with  encaustic  paste 
containing  Marseilles  soap,  placing  the  print  (a  photograph  in  this 
case)  when  wet  between  two  pieces  of  glass  and  copying  it  immedi- 
ately before  it  dries,  and  a  number  of  other  ways  are  adapted  to 
bring  about  the  same  result.  Sometimes,  however,  life  negatives 
are  printed  on  plain  paper  and  worked  up.  When  done  nicely  the 
result  is  splendid,  as  there  are  no  such  defects  to  contend  with  as 
there  are  in  a  copy  negative. 


TREATMENT   OF   THE   PRINTS   AFTER   PRINTING.       151 

I  give  the  following  formulae,  &c.,  for  a  ready  reference  for  the 
beginner : 

Plain  unsalted  paper  is  purchased,  and  the  fine  side  is  floated  on 
for  ten  seconds,  or  the  whole  sheet  is  drawn  through  the  following 

SALTING  SOLUTION. 

Pure  Rain-water, 60  ounces. 

Chloride  o£  Ammonium,  ....    360  grains. 
Gelatin, 120      " 

THE  POSITIVE  BATH  FOR  PLAIN  PAPER 
Is  either  a  plain  bath  of  30  to  40  grains  strong  of  nitrate  of  silver 
to  the  ounce  of  pure  water,  the  albumen  paper  bath  (which  had 
better  not  be  used),  or  another  bath  known  by  the  name  of  "  Am- 
monio-nitrate  Bath."  (See  Part  II,  Chapter  II.) 

SILVERING  PLAIN  PAPER. 

This  is  done  either  by  placing  the  sheet  on  a  solution  called  the 
printing  bath  or  by  swabbing.  If  floating  is  preferred,  then  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  seconds  on  a  bath  of  thirty  grains  strong  is  about  right 
for  summer,  and  thirty-live  to  forty  seconds  on  a  bath  of  forty-five 
grains  strong  is  best  for  winter.  In  swabbing  the  paper,  pour  on  to 
the  fine  side  of  it  about  half  an  ounce  of  the  solution,  and  distribute 
it  equally  over  the  surface  by  means  of  the  swab. 

"DOCTORING"  THE  NEGATIVES  BEFORE  PRINTING. 

Look  out  for  heavy  shadows,  heavy  lines,  and  also  look  to  see  if 
you  can  improve  the  looks  of  the  forehead,  cheeks,  nose,  chin,  ears, 
hand  and  arms,  flat  faces,  &c.,  &c. 

The  remedy  is  generally,  i.  e.  to  myself,  either  the  blue  paint 
dodge,  Irish  process,  or  the  retouching  pencil. 

Make  it  your  business  to  study  every  negative  that  falls  into  your 
hands  for  you  to  print  from. 

« 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

FUETHEE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  FEINTS  AFTER 
FEINTING. 

THE  plain  paper  prints  when  printed  are  then  to  go  through  the 
same  operations  as  the  albumen  prints. 


152  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

In  the  first  place  the  edges  of  the  prints  are  trimmed  so  that  they 
will  not  be  so  likely  to  tear  in  the  water. 

After  the  albumen  prints  are  toned,  the  plain  prints  are  washed 
by  hand — which  can  be  accomplished  in  three  minutes — and  then 
toned  immediately.  The  strength  and  looks  of  the  plain  paper 
prints  are  hurt  considerably  if  they  are  permitted  to  pass  through 
the  same  treatment  for  so  long  a  time  as  the  albumen  prints  are, 
and  for  this  reason  they  should  never  be  placed  in  the  acidulated 
water  unless  the  quantity  of  the  acid  in  it  is  very  small,  as  it  flat- 
tens the  prints  fearfully. 

The  prints  should  not  be  "  washed  to  death  "  before  they  are 
toned,  which  they  would  be  if  they  were  to  be  subjected  to  the  same 
time  of  washing  as  the  albumen  photographs  are.  The  horny  sur- 
face of  the  albumen  prints  is  different  from  the  soft  and  spongy  sur- 
face of  the  plain,  and  whereas  it  may  take  fifteen  minutes  for  the 
washing  and  acidifying  solution  to  do  its  work  on  the  hard  surface 
of  the  albumen  paper,  three  minutes  would  be  ample  time  for  the 
plain  paper. 

In  the  first  water  for  the  plain  paper  prints,  about  a  dozen  drops 
(no  more)  of  acetic  acid  No.  8  may  be  placed,  but  after  the  prints 
have  been  in  there  two  minutes,  remove  and  rinse  them  well  from 
the  acid  water,  and  then  they  are  ready  to  be  toned. 

The  prints  are  toned  slowly,  so  that  the  action  of  the  gold  on 
them  will  not  be  so  rapid  as  to  cause  them  to  show  weakness,  which 
they  will  surely  do  if  the  toning  is  rapid  and  forced. 

To  do  this,  they  are  generally  toned  after  the  bath  has  toned  the 
albumen  prints,  and  is  wellnigh  exhausted. 

The  albumen  paper  toning-bath  can  be  used  for  the  plain  prints, 
whether  made  up  every  night  fresh  or  not,  without  any  hurt  to 
either  the  bath  or  the  prints.  They  should  also  be  toned  face  up  in 
the  bath,  as  stronger  prints  are  obtained  by  so  doing  than  if  they 
were  toned  with  the  face  down  in  the  solution. 

When  the  prints  are  toned  6Zwe,  rinse  the  toning  solution  from 
them,  and  then  they  are  ready  to  Be  fixed  in  the  ordinary  fixing- 
bath. 

Fix  ten  minutes,  keeping  the  prints  in  constant  motion  during 
that  time,  and  then  weaken  the  bath  three  times,  thus  making  it 
finally  like  unto  the  density  of  water.  The  albumen  and  plain 
paper  prints  can  be  all  fixed  in  the  same  bath. 

The  washing  of  the  plain  prints  can  be  done  in  a  much  shorter 
time  than  the  albumen  ones,  and  if  the  printer  can,  he  had  better  re- 
move them  from  the  bath  of  fresh  water  when  they  have  been  washed 


FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.      153 

thoroughly :  say  four  or  five  hours  in  continually  changing  water 
will  be  plenty  of  time. 

The  prints  are  then  mounted  on  No.  1  extra  cardboard,  and  when 
dry  they  are  rolled  once  under  an  ordinary  roller,  and  under  slight 
pressure.  Never  think  of  using  the  burnisher  for  plain  paper  prints. 

The  prints  are  now  ready  for  the  india-ink  artist. 


CHAPTEE   IX. 

CAUSES  OF  FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN 
PAPER  PRINTING. 

IN  this  chapter  we  shall  give  the  causes  and  the  remedies  of  the 
failures  that  are  constantly  occurring,  both  in  albumen  and  plain 
paper  printing. 

ALBUMEN  PAPER. 

There  is  considerable  fault  found  with  some  of  the  albumen  paper 
which  is  in  a  great  measure  unnecessary. 

Now  there  is  no  paper  manufactured  and  successfully  worked  by 
a  few  photographic  printers  but  that  can  be  worked  by  a  great  many 
if  they  were  to  try  to  work  it,  and  not  discard  it  if  the  first  (trial) 
sheet  should  not  happen  to  work  as  it  might  be  wished  by  the 
printer.  If  a  paper  is  worked  successfully  by  some  photographic 
printers,  why  should  we  not  endeavor  also  to  work  it  successfully  ? 

It  may  be  a  source  of  some  trouble,  and  also  at  the  expense  of 
considerable  time,  to  do  so,  but  do  it  we  should,  if  only  for  our  own 
satisfaction. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  sensitizing  the  very  first  thing,  six,  eight, 
or  a  dozen  sheets  of  paper  the  working  of  which  the  printer  is  un- 
familiar with,  and  then,  because  it  is  sensitized,  to  print  and  tone 
it  all  up,  saying  for  an  excuse  that  we  cannot  afford  to  lose  so  much 
paper. 

Do  not  keep  on  printing  day  after  day,  when  the  paper  is  working 
badly,  ~but  stop  off  short,  even  if  the  best  part  of  a  day  is  wasted, 
and  work  constantly  in  every  way  and  manner  until  you  are  through 
with  your  difficulty,  and  then  your  work  will  again  be  excellent. 

Unfortunately  the  printer  seldom  has  the  say  about  such  things 
(which  he  should  have  if  he  is  capable),  and  the  photographer  for- 

11 


154  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

bids  his  doing  any  such  thing  on  account  of  the  time  wasted  (as  he 
terms  it),  and  "the  orders  promised  to-morrow,"  &c.,  &c.  The 
customers  probably  had  rather  wait  a  day  or  so,  if  their  photographs 
would  be  any  better,  but  there  is  an  old  saying,  "Where  there's  a 
will,  there's  a  way,"  which  I  always  bring  home  to  myself,  when  I 
feel  inclined  to  invent  excuses  for  such  things. 

There  are  some  faults,  however,  with  the  albumen  papers,  which 
rightfully  give  them  the  name  of  poor  paper,  and  such  I  will  here 
give. 

UNEVEN  ALBUMENIZING. 

This  unevenness  in  the  albumenizing  of  the  paper  can  readily  be 
seen  by  examining  the  paper,  and  noticing  how  much  thicker  the 
albumen  is  on  one  side  of  the  sheet  than  it  is  on  the  other. 

This  unevenness  will  sometimes  affect  the  resulting  prints  of  the 
same  negative  printed  on  different  parts  of  the  same  sheet  of  paper, 
some  of  the  paper  being  much  more  brilliant  than  others,  which  is 
accounted  for  on  the  ground  of  the  albumen  being  thicker  on  the 
paper  on  which  the  more  brilliant  prints  were  made. 

PAPER  REPELLING  THE  BATH  SOLUTION. 

The  albumen  on  the  paper  is  too  dry  and  horny.  Let  it  remain 
in  a  damp  and  rather  cool  place  over  night,  and  be  sure  and  float 
the  paper  when  it  is  damp,  and  not  let  it  remain  in  a  warm  room 
before  floating,  if  it  is  only  for  a  few  minutes,  as  it  will  immediately 
become  horny  again. 

TEAR-DROPS. 

These  are  caused  by  the  same  reason,  and  in  fact  are  often  the 
result  of  the  above.  The  tear-drops  accumulate  in  spots  over  the 
paper,  and  when  the  rest  of  the  paper  is  dry  these  spots  will  not  be 
so.  To  avoid  it  in  future,  have  your  paper  damp  and  the  bath  not 
too  strong,  and  to  save  the  paper  on  which  these  spots  already  have 
appeared,  blot  the  superfluous  part  of  the  solution  with  blotting- 
paper.  Drawing  the  paper  over  a  glass  rod  will  often  cure  it. 

ALBUMEN  SPOTS  AND  STREAKS. 

These  are  caused  by  carelessness  in  albumenizing ;  the  spots  by 
albumen  spattering  on  the  paper,  the  streaks  by  the  albumen  run- 
ning zigzag  when  the  paper  is  hung  over  a  line  to  dry. 

These  streaks  are  generally  in  the  middle  of  the  sheet,  and  run 
either  in  the  direction  of  its  length  or  width,  and  very  often  diago- 
nally. 


FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.      155 


METALLIC  SPOTS. 

These  are  found  in  almost  all  of  the  albumen  papers  that  I  have 
used,  and  owing  to  the  partiality  which  the  Rives  paper  has  for  it  the 
Saxe  paper  is  very  much  preferred  by  many  photographers,  as  there 
is  none  found  in  that  particular  paper.  It  is  occasioned  in  various 
ways  ;  often  in  the  drying  of  the  freshly  albumenized  paper.  When 
so  caused  it  is  owing  to  clouds  of  iron-dust,  which  are  set  in  motion 
by  draughts,  &c.,  which  settle  on  the  paper,  as  before  said,  while 
drying.  The  (iron)  dust  generally  occurs  from  the  iron  rust  on  the 
stoves,  which  are  used  in  keeping  the  rooms  hot  for  the  purpose  of 
drying  the  paper,  or  from  the  machinery. 

Metallic  spots  occur  also  from  some  local  cause  in  the  printing- 
room,  probably  while  drying,  after  it  is  sensitized  on  the  printing-bath. 
The  gas-stove,  which  has  become  rusty  (varnish  it  all  over  when  it 
is  so)  either  from  drops  of  water  which  have  been  carelessly  spilt  on  it, 
or  from  dampness  of  the  air,  detaches  some  particles  of  it  in  the  air 
by  the  draughts,  which  are  numerous  as  soon  as  the  stove  is  lighted, 
and  settling  on  the  paper  while  wet  with  silver  will  cause  a  very  de- 
cided metallic-looking  spot  or  stain  on  the  paper,  and  which  appears 
to  be  more  of  a  stain  caused  by  the  iron-rust  coming  in  contact  with 
the  silver  than  it  does  like  a  piece  of  iron-rust,  and  as  a  very  small 
speck  of  dust  of  this  nature  will  cause  a  large  stain,  we  are  led  to 
believe  that  the  metallic  spots  are  developed  or  decomposed  on  the 
paper,  and  thus  if  there  should  only  be  a  small  cloud  of  dust  of  this 
kind  in  the  air  it  would  finally  be  productive  of  disastrous  results. 

This  kind  of  dust  is  easily  told  from  that  which  occurs  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  the  plain  unalbumenized  paper,  or  in  the  albumenizing  of 
the  plain  paper,  by  picking  out  a  few  of  these  metallic  spots  with  a 
needle,  and  then  if  the  spots  have  accumulated  in  the  manufacture 
of  the  plain  paper  they  will  then  be  found  deeply  imbedded  in  the 
paper  and  beneath  the  surface  of  the  albumen,  and  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  dug-out  place  I  am  led  to  believe  that  small  particles  of 
machinery,  which  are  at  times  flying  through  the  air,  imbed  them- 
selves in  the  paper,  and  thus  occasion  the  smutty  appearance  of  the 
holes  which  have  been  left  when  the  metallic  spots  are  dug  out. 

If  they  occurred  in  the  albumenizing  they  will  be  superficial,  and 
before  the  paper  is  silvered  will  be  very  faint  in  appearance,  but  after 
it  is  silvered  they  will  be  brought  more  fully  out. 

When  the  dust  has  got  on  the  paper,  when  freshly  sensitized,  it 
will  have  a  freshness  and  brightness  that  will  readily  tell  the  ex- 
aminer when  it  got  there. 


156  THE    PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


FAILURES  IN  PREPARING  PLAIN  PAPER  FOR  PRINTING. 

Good  paper  for  plain  paper  printing  can  be  had  by  using  the  back 
of  albumen  paper,  as  the  salt  which  is  mixed  with  the  albumen  in. 
the  albumenizing  of  the  paper  will,  in  conjunction  with  the  albumen, 
make  a  strong  print  without  any  necessity  for  any  more  salting.  I 
have  obtained  fair  results  by  the  use  of  the  above,  but  have  used 
paper  prepared  as  given  in  a  former  chapter  with  greater  success, 
but  in  case  of  emergency  the  other  way  will  answer. 

Anderson  recommends  for  salting,  a  solution  of  five  grains  of 
chloride  of  ammonium  to  the  ounce  of  water.  He  says  nothing 
about  the  use  of  gelatin  in  the  solution,  but  I  find  that  the  prints 
are  much  better  if  a  couple  of  grains  or  so  of  the  gelatin  are  added  to 
every  ounce  of  water.  An  india-ink  artist  also  informs  me  that  the 
paper  works  better  with  it  than  without  it. 

If  the  plain  prints  have  a  sunk-in  appearance  (and  you  are  cer- 
tain that  it  has  that  appearance),  then  the  salt  is  used  in  too  large 
a  quantity  in  the  salting. 

If  they  are  flat  and  mean-looking  prints,  then  the  reverse  is  the 
cause. 

If  the  plain  paper  prints  are  coarse,  you  have  used  the  wrong  side 
in  sensitizing,  and  if  that  is  not  the  case,  then  you  used  the  wrong 
side  in  floating  on  the  salting  solution. 

If  the  coarseness  appeared  after  the  final  finishing  (i.e.,  after  it 
has  been  mounted  and  before  it  has  been  worked  up),  then  the  paper 
has  been  subjected  to  too  harsh  alkalies,  probably  in  the  toning  bath. 

If  you  cannot  get  a  print  on  plain  paper,  i.  e.,  no  signs  of  decent 
printing,  probably  the  paper  has  not  been  salted.  To  determine  if 
a  paper  is  salted  taste  of  a  corner,  and  if  it  taste  saline  then  it  has 
been ;  if  it  does  not,  then  the  reverse.  If  there  are  transparent  spots 
all  over  the  plain  paper,  you  have  probably  handled  it  with  greasy 
fingers.  These  disappear  when  finished. 

FAILURES  WITH  THE  POSITIVE  PRINTING  BATH. 

These  occur  both  in  the  making,  working,  and  care  of  it. 

In  weighing  out  the  nitrate  of  silver,  or  the  nitrate  of  ammonium, 
&c.,  &c.,  always  be  sure  that  the  scales  are  clean,  and  place  small 
pieces  of  paper  on  both  sides  of  the  scales,  of  the  same  size,  before 
weighing  out  anything,  and  you  will  be  doubly  sure  then  of  perfect 
cleanliness.  Use  fresh  pieces  of  paper  every  time  you  use  the  scales. 

Never  touch  your  fingers  any  more  than  what  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  contents  of  your  bottles,  and  when  about  to  weigh  out 


Solids. 

20  Grains      = 

1  Scruple 

20  Grains. 

60  Minims  . 

3  Scruples  = 

1  Drachm 

=      60 

" 

8  Drachms 

8  Drachms  = 

1  Ounce 

=    480 

"       i  16  ounces    . 

12  Ounces     = 

1  Pound 

—  5760 

"       j    8  Pints       . 

FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.      157 

silver,  &c.,  place  a  piece  of  the  paper,  previously  placed  in  the  scales, 
in  your  hand,  and  pour  the  silver  in  that. 

In  weighing  out  chemicals  always  be  sure  that  you  have  reckoned 
the  precise  amount  of  grains,  &c.,  correctly.  It  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  have  a  table  of  ounces  reduced  to  grains,  and  I  will  here 
give  one  for  solids,  such  a,«  nitrate  of  soda,  &c.,  and  also  one  for  fluid 
measures. 

Fluids. 

.  =  1  Fluid  drachm. 

.  —  1  Ounce. 

.  =  IPint. 

.  =  1  Gallon. 

When  about  to  make  up  solutions  always  be  sure  that  the  bottles 
are  clean. 

In  the  mixing  up  of  solutions,  as  per  formulae,  if  there  is  a  partic- 
ular way  of  mixing  them  given  (as  I  have  given  in  the  making  of 
the  collodio-chloride  in  Part  III),  always  mix  them  in  that  order. 

In  the  printing  department,  when  pure  water  is  recommended,  and 
distilled  is  not  at  hand,  then  pure  filtered  rain-water,  or  clean  melted 
ice,  will  answer. 

In  cold  weather  always  warm  your  silver  bath  before  using,  and 
not  float  your  paper  on  an  ice-cold  solution. 

Make  your  bath  stronger  in  cold  weather,  and  also  silver  longer, 
than  what  you  do  in  summer. 

In  the  summer,  printers  are  apt  to  get  their  bath  too  weak  in  silver  -r 
never  let  it  get  below  thirty  grains  strong  of  pure  nitrate  of  silver  to 
the  ounce  of  water,  saying  nothing  of  the  other  ingredients  which 
are  sometimes  used  in  the  composition  of  the  bath. 

Do  not  let  your  solution  get  too  low  in  quantity,  so  that  you  will 
have  to  place  in  a  large  quantity  of  the  stock  at  one  time,  as  for  the 
next  day  or  two  the  bath  will  not  work  so  well.  Always  have  your 
stock,  or  adding  solution,  made  up  in  the  same  proportion,  as  to  in- 
gredients, as  was  used  in  the  first  composition  of  your  daily  bath. 

Always  keep  your  printing  bath  in  the  dish  covered  up  when  not 
in  use. 

Pour  your  bath  back  into  the  bottle  every  night,  clean  your  dish 
out,  and  set  it  away  bottom  upwards  on  a  shelf  covered  with  clean 
paper. 

Filter  your  bath  before  using  it  the  next  day. 

When  the  bath  in  the  silvering  dish  is  dirty  always  skim  it  before 
using  again. 

When  the  bath  is  discolored,  which  is  due  to  the  impurities  which 
has  been  left  in  it  from  floating,  &c.,  always  clear  up  with  a  little 


158  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

kaolin,  camphor,  or  permanganate  of  potash,  &c.,  as  has  been  ex- 
plained in  a  former  chapter. 

Sun  the  bath  when  not  in  use. 

Test  your  bath  every  morning  before  use  to  ascertain  both  the 
strength  of  silver  and  the  degree  of  alkalinity  of  the  solution. 

Be  sure  that  your  bath  is  a  little  alkaline,  but  never  add  (see  Chap- 
ter I,  Part  I)  unless  you  are  using  the  citric  acid  printing  bath, 
and  then  have  it  only  a  little  so  ;  but  in  the  case  when  you  are  not 
using  such  a  bath  never  have  the  solution  acid  with  nitric  acid. 
Better  results  are  obtained  with  either  an  alkaline  or  a  neutral  bath 
than  with  an  acid  one. 

For  a  weak  negative,  and  one  inclined  to  be  flat,  a  strong  bath 
and  a  longer  time  of  floating  is  required  than  when  the  opposite  is 
the  case. 

Better  prints  are  obtained  by  the  addition  of  alum,  or  nitrate  of 
ammonium,  or  both,  to  the  bath  solution  than  what  is  obtained  with- 
out them,  as  they  coagulate  the  albumen,  and  keep  the  solution  on 
the  surface,  making  more  brilliant  prints,  and  being  more  easily 
washed  in  the  final  washing. 

Boil  your  bath  down  two-thirds  every  month  or  so,  and  make  up 
as  before. 

Use  Pile's  test-tube  and  solution  for  testing  your  bath,  when  there 
is  anything  in  it  besides  nitrate  of  silver,  as  the  common  hydrom- 
eter will  mislead  you. 

When  you  wish  to  know  the  quantity  of  nitrate  of  ammonium,  or 
soda,  in  your  bath,  and  you  are  sure  that  the  albumen  and  other 
impurities  are  out  of  it,  then  test  with  the  hydrometer  and  with 
Pile's  test  (which  is  the  only  sure  test  for  the  silver),  subtract  the 
two,  and  the  difference  is  one-half  the  number  of  grains  of  nitrate 
of  ammonium  in  the  bath. 

For  instance,  suppose  you  were  to  make  up  a  silver  bath  of  thirty 
grains  strong  to  the  ounce  of  water,  and  wishing  nitrate  of  ammo- 
nium in  the  bath,  you  also  put  in  thirty  grains  of  this  to  the  ounce. 
Test  with  hydrometer,  and  it  will  stand  at  45  grains.  Test  with 
Pile's  tube,  and  you  will,  of  course  (for  you  know  in  this  case,  for 
the  bath  was  just  made  up,  and  has  not  been  used),  find  it  this  time 
to  stand  at  30  grains.  Subtract  the  two  ;  15  grains  is  left,  which  is 
half  of  the  number  of  grains  which  you  know  was  added. 

In  the  case  just  cited,  the  rule  may  not  be  required,  for  you  know 
already  the  strength  of  the  bath,  and  just  how  much  nitrate  of  am- 
monium there  is  in  it,  but  when  a  bath  has  been  used  for  some  time 
the  amount  of  each  is  not  known,  then  the  above  may  be  handy. 
Before  using  the  above  test,  however,  the  printer  should  endeavor, 


FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.      159 

as  far  as  lies  in  his  power,  to  remove  all  of  the  organic  matter  from 
the  bath,  so  that  it  will  not  deceive  him. 

FAILURES  IN  SILVERING  THE  PAPER. 

Paper  Silvered  too  Lcmg  a  Time. — Result :  The  paper  will  discolor 
very  quickly,  according  to  temperature,  and  the  prints  will  have  a 
sunken-in  appearance,  and  with  a  strong  bath  bronzing  is  very 
plainly  indicated  (even  when  the  prints  are  finished)  in  all  of  the 
slight  shadows,  even  those  under  the  eyebrows,  the  latter  result 
being  more  evident  in  the  case  of  the  albumen  paper,  the  former 
(sunken-in  appearance),  both  in  plain  and  albumen  paper. 

Paper  Silvered  too  Short  a  Time. — Result :  Weak,  flat  prints,  with- 
out any  boldness,  prints  red,  and  red  spots  of  various  sizes  are  very 
noticeable.  The  bath  is  either  too  weak  or  the  paper  is  floated  too 
short  a  time,  or  both,  when  the  above  results  appear. 

Plain  paper,  if  silvered  too  short  a  time,  will  act  similarly  to  al- 
bumen, and  then  if  it  had  been  swabbed  when  this  result  occurs, 
the  strength  of  the  silver  solution  is  too  low,  and  should  be  in- 
creased. 

Do  not  lay  flat  and  red  prints  to  the  paper  being  undersilvered, 
unless  you  are  sure  that  the  paper  has  been  thoroughly  dried  before 
and  after  fuming,  as  the  same  results  occur  by  printing  upon  paper 
that  has  not  been  dried,  as  said  before. 

Bubbles  on  the  Paper  while  Silvering. — Blow  at  them,  or  touch 
them  gently  with  a  glass  rod. 

Paper  curling  over  while  Silvering. — Breathe  gently  (don't  blow) 
on  it,  and  it  will  flatten  at  once. 

Gr easiness  to  the  Solution  on  the  Paper  after  Floating. — The  paper 
was  either  too  dry  before  floating,  solution  too  cold,  or  the  paper 
was  floated  too  short  a  time. 

Uneven  Silvering,  see  Silvering  the  Albumen  Paper,  Chapter  II, 
Part  I. 

Stains  on  the  Paper  after  Silvering,  and  while  Drying. — Caused  by 
the  paper  coming  into  contact  with  dirty  places  while  you  are  hang- 
ing it  up,  by  dirty  hands,  and  stains  running  from  the  corners 
where  the  paper  is  suspended  either  by  common  pins,  tacks,  &c. 
Remedy :  Carefulness  in  hanging  up  the  paper,  and  by  the  use  of 
spring  clips. 

FAILURES  IN  DRYING  THE  PAPER. 

Swinging  and  sticking  together  of  the  paper  while  drying,  caused 
by  draughts. 

Curling  of  the  paper  while  drying  can  be  prevented  by  obtaining 
a  piece  of  stick  as  long  as  the  lower  side  of  the  suspended  paper,  and 


160  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

nailing  a  spring  clip  at  each  end  of  the  stick  ;  fasten  it  to  the  paper 
by  means  of  the  nippers  when  the  solution  on  the  paper  has  stopped 
dripping. 

Tear-drops  in  Drying. — Absorb  the  drops  of  solution  with  a  piece 
of  bibulous  paper,  and  dry  thoroughly. 

Place  a  piece  of  tissue-paper  on  the  lower  comers  of  the  paper 
while  drying. 

FAILURES  IN  FUMING. 

Insufficient  Fuming. — Result :  Prints  are  red,  flat,  and  weak.  The 
ammonia  is  not  strong  enough,  or  the  paper  was  taken  from  the  box 
before  it  ought  to  have  been. 

Too  much  Fuming. — Result :  Prints  have  a  disagreeable  blue  and 
a  cold,  repelling  (and  often  metallic)  look  to  them.  Remedy  :  Fume 
less. 

Uneven  Fuming. — Result :  Part  of  the  paper  prints  well,  and  other 
parts  print  flat  and  weak.  Caused  either  by  the  curling  of  the  paper 
while  fuming,  or  by  parts  of  the  paper  being  covered  with  other 
sheets. 

CUTTING  THE  PAPER  FOR  PRINTING. 

Dirty -Paper. — Caused  by  dirty  hands,  shears,  or  by  laying  the 
paper  in  a  dirty  place. 
Paper  Cut  Badly.  —Caused  either  by  carelessness  or  ignorance. 

FAILURES  IN  PRINTING. 

Breaking  of  Negatives. — Caused  either  by  carelessness,  flaws  in 
glass,  curved  negatives,  bad  cutting,  printing-frames,  &c.,  &c. 

Double  Features  on  the  Prints. — Caused  by  the  prints  moving  in 
examining  them  during  printing. 

Harsh  Vignettes.— Caused  either  by  a  bad  wooden  vignette-block, 
the  vignetting  papers  or  cardboard  being  too  near  the  negative,  and 
if  none  of  the  above  is  the  cause,  then  by  the  vignette  not  being 
blended  enough  for  the  strength  of  the  light  it  was  printed  in.  (See 
Chapters  IX  and  XII,  Part  I.) 

Badly  Shaped  Vignettes. — Caused  by  the  use  of  a  badly  formed 
vignetting  arrangement. 

Medallion  Printing. — Badly  printed  crescent  lines,  &c.  Caused 
by  poor  cut-outs  and  masks  (i.  e.,  background  masks),  and  often  by 
the  wrong  use  of  them,  even  if  they  are  good.  (See  Chapter  XIII, 
Part  I.) 

Fancy  Medallion  Printing. — Failures  in  this  style  of  printing  are 


FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.     161 

generally  caused  by  not  going  to  work  rightly.  (See  Chapter  XIV, 
Parti.) 

Printing  in  Gray. — Failures  in  this  style  of  printing  are  harsh 
edges.  Caused  by  shading  the  figure  poorly.  (See  Chapter  XIV, 
Part  I.) 

Bendann  Backgrounds. — Failures  with  moving  backgrounds, 
backgrounds  printing  in  the  figures,  bad  taste  in  choosing  the  right 
style  of  background,  &c.,  &c.  (See  Chapter  XYI,  Part  I.) 

Blurred  Prints. — Caused  by  the  paper  not  being  in  perfect  contact 
with  the  negative,  and  then  again  it  is  caused  by  the  paper  being 
too  large  for  the  place  allotted  to  it  in  the  frame,  by  its  being  damp, 
&c. 

White  Spots  on  the  Paper. — Caused  by  the  bubbles  being  permit- 
ted to  remain  under  the  paper  while  it  is  floating,  and  by  dirt  on 
the  negatives. 

Unevenly  Printed  Shadows. — Caused  by  poor  "doctoring  "  of  the 
negatives,  or  by  printing  the  negative  after  it  is  doctored  in  too 
strong  a  light. 

Uneven  Printing. — Negatives  being  partly  shaded  during  the 
printing,  and  when  reference  is  made  to  the  result  of  a  day's  batch 
of  prints,  then  a  great  diversity  of  the  shades  of  prints  are  meant ; 
some  being  too  light,  and  others  too  dark,  &c. 

FAILURES  IN  TRIMMING  PRINTS. 

I  will  not  here  attempt  to  tell  how  the  failures  may  be  avoided, 
but  only  to  notice  where  these  failures  generally  occur,  and  then  the 
remedy  will  be  obvious. 

Head  cut  too  high  or  too  low  in  the  prints,  cut  too  much  to  one 
side,  prints  cut  so  that  the  figure  appears  to  be  falling  either  in  one 
direction  or  another,  and  when  the  figure  is  leaning  on  a  chair  or  a 
table,  the  idea  of  leaning  is  not  carried  out,  so  that  the  figure  will 
appear  to  be  sitting  up  straight,  with  the  arms  lying  on  the  table, 
merely  mechanically,  without  conveying  to  the  understanding  of  the 
tasteful  critic  any  successful  idea  that  the  photographer  intended  to 
have  carried  out. 

When  a  print  is  cut  as  last  described,  a  beautiful  pose  is  often 
completely  spoiled,  and  it  looks  to  be  just  exactly  the  opposite,  as 
regards  beauty  of  pose,  to  what  it  is  in  the  negative.  The  young 
beginner  can  thus  see  how  he  can  completely  spoil  the  beauty  of  a 
pose  by  making  it  a  mechanical,  instead  of  an  artistic  one. 

Besides  the  above,  there  are  scores  and  scores  of  cases  in  which 
the  prints  are  a  failure  when  so  trimmed. 


162  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


FAILURES  IN  WASHING. 

Imperfectly  Washed  Prints. — Caused  by  the  prints  lying  together 
in  the  water  ;  bad  results  follow  such  treatment  of  the  prints. 

FAILURES  IN  ACIDIFYING. 

Spotted  Prints. — The  acid  water  has  either  got  on  the  prints  be- 
fore they  were  placed  in  the  water,  or  they  were  separated  imper- 
fectly while  being  placed  in  the  acid  water. 

Refusing  to  Red  up. — The  water  is  too  cold,  the  acid  too  weak,  or 
the  paper  was  fumed  too  long. 

Blistering  of  the  Paper. — The  water  is  either  too  cold  or  too  hot. 

FAILURES  IN  TONING. 

Toning  Baths. — The  failures  in  the  toning  bath  are  in  the  compo- 
sition of  it,  being  made  up  wrong,  or  having  got  some  foreign  sub- 
stance in  it  that  spoils  the  fine  working  of  it. 

Acid  Toning  Baths. — These  baths  will  tone  if  only  a  little  acid, 
but  not  so  nicely  as  alkaline  toning  baths,  owing  to  the  acidity  of 
the  solution,  which  bleaches  the  prints  considerabty  before  they 
are  toned,  and  thus  destroys  the  strength  and  beauty  of  them. 
They  also  tone  very  much  slower,  as  the  gold  is  not  thrown  down 
on  the  prints  only  very  slowly,  as  the  acidity  of  the  solution  holds  it 
in  suspension.  That  is  why  we  make  our  stock  solution  of  gold 
acid,  and  only  neutralize  a  part  of  it  whenever  we  commence  to 
tone,  for  if  we  were  not  to  do  this,  the  gold  of  the  solution  in  the 
stock-bottle  would  be  thrown  down,  and  the  solution  would  then  be 
useless.  Toning  baths  should  always  be  made  alkaline  before  use. 

FAILURES  IN  TONING  PRINTS. 

When  the  bath  is  too  strong  (i.  e.,  contains  too  much  chloride  of 
gold),  the  prints  tone  so  rapidly  that  you  cannot  stop  the  toning 
quickly  enough  to  prevent  them  from  getting  overtoned. 

Uneven  toning  is  caused  by  the  bath  being  too  strong,  prints  lying 
more  or  less  together  while  in  the  bath,  insufficient  moving  while 
toning,  and  then  again  by  the  prints  not  being  washed  sufficiently 
before  toning,  strengthening  the  bath  while  the  prints  are  in  it,  &c. 

Prints  showing  weakness  in  the  toning  bath  is  owing  partly  to 
the  bath  being  too  strong,  and  the  prints  being  more  or  less  weak 
before  they  were  placed  in  the  bath,  and  if  the  latter  is  the  case, 
then  a  quick- working  bath  will  increase  this  weakness. 


FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.      163 

Prints  refusing  to  tone  is  due  to  the  solution  being  too  cold,  too 
acid,  or  there  not  being  enough  gold  in  the  solution. 

Mechanical  Toning. — This  is  the  name  given  to  toning  when  all 
prints  are  toned  alike,  whether  they  are  portraits,  landscapes,  ma- 
chinery, drawings,  &c.,  &c.,  when  certain  tones  are  best  suited  for 
'each  of  them.  (See  Chapter  XXIV,  Parti.) 

FAILURES  IN  FIXING  PRINTS. 

If  the  fixing-bath  should  be  at  all  acid  sulphur  will  be  liberated 
from  the  hyposulphite  of  soda,  which  will  unite  with  the  silver  both 
in  the  prints  and  that  which  is  in  the  solution,  forming  sulphide  of 
silver,  which  will  eventually  be  the  means  of  spoiling  the  prints. 
To  be  sure  that  the  bath  will  never  be  acid  add  bicarbonate  of  soda 
to  every  batch  of  soda-solution  you  make  ;  and  never  use  a  bath 
twice,  as  it  will  cause  the  prints  to  fade,  for  the  very  reason  that 
has  been  spoken  of  above,  and  the  whites  of  the  prints  will  discolor 
and  be  a  white-yellow  in  color  rather  than  the  virgin  white. 

Uneven  Fixing. — This  is  caused  by  the  'prints  not  being  separated 
thoroughly  while  in  the  bath,  and  the  silver  consequently  not  being 
thoroughly  removed. 

Air-Bubbles  in  Fixing. — The  bubbles  continuing  unbroken  in  the 
fixing  bath  often  get  between  the  prints,  and  if  they  are  not  kept  in 
constant  motion  while  in  the  bath  these  bubbles  will  cause  minute 
spots  of  imperfect  fixing.  These  spots  are  yellow. 

If  the  prints  are  constantly  kept  in  motion  while  in  the  bath 
about  all  of  the  evil  effects  that  have  been  named  above  will  be 
avoided. 

FAILURES  IN  WASHING. 

Insufficient  washing  is  a  source  of  fading  of  the  prints,  making 
them  turn  yellow  in  a  short  time. 

If  the  prints  have  not  been  sufficiently  fixed  they  will  show  it 
when  washing,  as  then  they  will  look  dark  and  muddy  when  exam- 
ined in  a  strong  light.  Keep  the  prints  separated  from  each  other 
while  washing. 

FAILURES  AFTER  THE  FINAL  WASHING. 

Mounting  Prints. — Starch,  &c.,  as  a  source  of  fading.  (See 
Chapter  XXVII,  Part  I.) 

Cards  a  Source  of  Fading. — It  has  been  discussed  considerably, 
as  to  whether  the  cards  upon  which  the  prints  are  mounted  are  a 
source  of  fading.  It  has  been  satisfactorily  proved  by  many  of  our 
leading  first-class  photographers  both  at  home  and  abroad  that  it  is 


164  THE   PEACTICAL   PEINTER. 

very  seldom,  indeed,  that  there  is  anything  in  the  cards  that  will 
affect  the  prints. 

Lately  (i.  e. ,  within  a  year  or  so)  the  manufacturers  of  the  card- 
mounts  have  taken  more  pains  to  utterly  exclude,  as  far  as  possible, 
all  such  ingredients  in  the  manufacture  of  the  cards  that  will  in  any 
way  help  to  destroy  the  prints. 

Owing  to  the  blame  being  laid  to  the  card-mounts,  as  a  cause,  of 
the  prints  fading,  an  eminent  firm  of  Paris,  France  (MM.  Kohaut  & 
Hutinet,  manufacturers  of  card-mounts),  made  a  fair  and  impar- 
tial trial,  and  laid  the  result  of  their  experiments  and  researches 
before  the  French  Photographic  Society,  which  society  was  satisfied 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  card-mounts  are  not  a  source  of  fading  of 
the  prints,  but  that  when  fading  does  occur  it  is  from  other  causes, 
probably  improper  manipulations  of  the  prints,  &c.  If  the  mem- 
bers of  this  society,  who  were  in  the  first  place  prejudiced  against 
the  card-mounts,  all  of  whom  are  excellent  photographers,  are  satis- 
fied with  the  investigations,  we  also  should  be,  and  I  for  one  am. 

Now  when  we  take  into  consideration  that  the  prints,  which  we 
know  are  properly  manipulated,  do  not  fade  for  months  (see  experi- 
ments, page  126)  under  severe  tests,  we  cannot  help  being  satisfied 
that  those  prints  were  excellently  made,  and  properly  manipulated  ; 
and  we  do  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  the  card-mounts  making 
them  fade,  because  they  do  not. 

It  is  only  when  the  prints  fade  that  the  mounts  are  said  to  be  a 
source  of  their  fading. 

I  know  of  a  photographer  who  to  my  certain  knowledge  changed 
his  mind  no  less  than  six  times  in  as  many  months  about  the  mounts 
making  the  prints  fade,  at  one  time  saying  that  they  did  not, 
because  the  prints  were  "  all  right,"  and  at  another  that  they  did, 
because  they  were  all  wrong  ;  but  there  was  one  peculiarity  in  his 
remarks,  and  that  was  that  the  prints  themselves  never  (?)  were  the 
cause  of  fading,  but  that  it  was  always  the  mounts.  The  reason 
why,  was  because  the  photographer  himself  did  the  printing,  or  at 
least  I  think  that  was  the  reason. 

Once  upon  a  time  the  printers  of  a  certain  photographic  establish- 
ment were  to  be  let  off  at  two  P.M.  (it  was  a  holiday)  providing  they  ' 
got  their  work  done,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  one  o'clock  came 
before  they  were  aware  of  it,  and  so,  of  course,  they  had  to  "rush 
things  "  to  get  done  at  two  o'clock,  and  when  printers  decide  on 
rushing  things  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  they  can  do  it.  They 
got  off  at  two  P.M.  of  course.  A  few  days  afterwards  these  very 
prints  were  spotted,  stained,  &c.,  and  of  course  "  the  boss  "  wanted 
to  know  how  they  got  in  that  condition,  and  he  asked  the  foreman- 


FAILURES  IN  ALBUMEN  AND  PLAIN  PAPER  PRINTING.     165 

printer  about  it,  and  inquired  as  to  whether  that  batch  of  prints 
that  were  toned  on  the  last  holiday  had  the  usual  amount  of  care 
and  attention  given  to  them  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  giving  the 
prints. 

The  printer,  of  course,  said  that  they  had,  and  suddenly  exclaimed 
as  though  the  thought  had  just  entered  his  head  : 

"Come  to  think  of  it,  I  was  very  particular  about  that  batch,  be- 
cause, as  I  started  quite  early  (?)  to  tone,  I  had  plenty  of  time  to 
tone  them,  and  as  I  had  a  splendid  light  to  tone  by  I  liked  to  see 
how  nice  I  could  make  them  come  out !  But  why  do  you  ask  ?"  he 
innocently  inquired. 

The  photographer  then  told  him  about  the  prints,  and  while  tell- 
ing him  about  it  he  happened  to  think  that  those  prints  were 
mounted  upon  some  new  card-mounts  which  he  had  received  on 
that  day,  and  being  mystified  about  it  he  at  once  laid  it  to  the 
mounts,  and  immediately  sent  them  back  to  the  bewildered  parties 
of  whom  he  had  purchased  them,  and  as  he  had  no  more  trouble 
with  his  prints  he  probably  thinks  to  this  day  that  the  card-mounts 
were  poor,  and  most  likely  he  is  a  strong  advocate  of  the  idea  that 
card- mounts  are  a  source  of  fading. 

FAILURES  IN  FINISHING. 

Color  mixed  badly,  absence  of  gum  arabic  in  the  color,  prints 
rolled  badly. 

Encaustic  paste  made  wrong,  daubed-up  card-mounts,  ridges  on 
the  surface  of  the  prints,  &c.  (See  Chapter  XXVIII,  Part  I.) 


Part  III. 

PORCELAIN   PRINTING. 


CHAPTER   I. 
SELECTION  OF  THE  PORCELAIN  PLATES. 

PORCELAIN  printing  is  the  most  difficult  of  the  three  parts  de- 
scribed in  this  book  both  to  the  experienced  and  to  the  inexpe- 
rienced printer.  I  think  that  if  the  advice  which  I  will  give  in  the 
following  chapters  is  faithfully  carried  out  that  the  difficulty  will 
entirely  disappear. 

The  foundation  of  porcelain  printing  depends  upon  obtaining  fine 
porcelain  plates,  which  is  by  no  means  an  easy  thing  to  do.  A  little 
advice  as  to  the  kind  of  glass  the  beginner  should  select  will  perhaps 
be  of  value. 

In  the  first  place  go  to  a  respectable  stockdealer,  one  who  under- 
stands his  business,  for  none  other  than  such  a  one  would  be  likely  to 
keep  a  good  stock,  especially  if  he  picked  out  his  goods  himself. 

Do  not  accept,  in  the  hopes  of  making  a  great  bargain,  porcelain- 
glass  which  may  be  offered  to  you  at  a  great  discount.  Beware  of 
such  dealers,  for  you  may  be  certain  that  the  glass  is  poor,  else  they 
could  command  and  get  good  prices  for  it.  Generally  the  stock- 
dealers  purchase  it  in  a  large  quantity  and  sell  it  in  that  waj',  and 
then  they  do  not  know  what  class  of  plates  the  contents  of  their 
packages  may  contain,  but  be  certain  of  one  thing,  they  never  pay 
poor  prices  for  good  glass,  and  when  they  buy  cheaply,  they  know 
about  what  they  have  got.  Then  again,  photographers  look  over 
the  porcelain  glass,  and  pick  out  the  best  plates,  when  they  go  after 
it  themselves,  but  when  they  send  for  them  they  get  what  is  left 
after  the  pickings. 

There  are  various  sizes  of  plates  which  the  beginner  should  pro- 
vide himself  with,  and  all  of  these  sizes  are  either  ground  or  polished. 


CLEANING  OF  THE  PORCELAIN  PLATES.       167 

as  you  may  desire  to  have.  The  ground  plates  are  intended  to  be 
used  when  the  porcelain  is  to  be  worked  up  either  in  water-colors 
or  in  oil ;  the  polished  plates  more  for  uncolored  work. 

The  sizes  are  known  as  the  11x14,  8x10,  6£x8£,  and  £,  |,  £. 
The  larger  of  the  plates  are  sometimes  u  extra  thick,"  although 
those  of  ordinary  thickness  are  more  used,  partly  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  of  cutting  the  "  extra  thick  "  when  necessary,  but  princi- 
pally because  they  are  more  expensive. 

In  selecting  your  plates  see  that  they  are  flat,  and  if  there  is  a 
side  that  is  convex  then  see  if  the  surface,  of  the  glass  is  smooth,  for 
that  is  the  side  of  the  two  which  is  to  be  used  to  print  on.  If  the 
convex  side  of  the  plate  is  not  smooth  but  rough,  as  it  will  be  if  it 
is  not  polished  properly,  then  reject  it. 

To  determine  whether  the  glass  is  flat  or  not  hold  it  up  before  you, 
and  look  along  the  edges  of  both  its  length  and  width.  If  the  plate 
is  a  little  uneven,  and  you  think  that  by  a  little  care  you  can  so 
arrange  it  on  the  printing-board  that  perfect  contact  will  come 
between  the  negative  and  plate,  then  save  it. 

Another  thing  in  selecting  the  plates  is  to  see  if  they  are  thick, 
which  is  very  important,  especially  for  anything  larger  than  a  half 
size,  for  thin  porcelain  plates  often  break  from  their  own  weight 
alone ;  in  fact,  always  use  the  best  plates— selected  as  per  advice 
given  above — that  you  can  obtain,  and  one  good  step  towards  suc- 
cess will  be  taken. 


CHAPTER    II. 
CLEANING  OF  THE  PORCELAIN  PLATES. 

Cleaning  New  Plates. — Wash  the  plates  thoroughly  on  both  sides 
under  a  tap  of  water,  and  place  them  for  the  time  being  in  a  rack 
(see  Fig.  49). 

The  object  of  washing  them  first  is  to  remove  all  of  the  dirt  which 
may  happen  to  be  on  them. 

Now,  to  get  the  plates  "chemically  clean,"  they  are  placed  in  a 
suitable  size  tray  of  photographic  ware,  which  contains  a  solution 
made  of  commercial  nitric  acid  one  ounce,  water  four  ounces.  Let 
them  remain  in  this  acid  bath  for  a  day  or  so,  and  then  they  are 
ready  to  be  removed  and  washed  for  albumenizing. 


168  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

Cleaning  Old  Plates.—  For  the  purpose  of  cleaning  old  dirty  plates 
which  have  been  used  before,  whether  varnished  or  not,  they  should 
first  be  placed  in  a  bath  made  of  concentrated  lye  1  pound,  water  1 
gallon.  Let  them  remain  in  this  bath  until  the  film  will  be  easily 
removed  by  running  water,  which  will  probably  be  in  a  day  or  so. 

FIG.  49. 


When  this  time  has  arrived,  then  wash  well  under  the  tap  until  all 
of  the  varnish  and  film  is  removed,  and  then  place  them  one  by  one 
in  the  acid  bath  as  described  above.  Keep  the  old  plates  in  the  lye 
until  all  of  the  film  is  removed,  and  never  place  them  in  the  acid 
until  that  time  arrives. 

In  placing  the  plates  in  either  the  lye  or  acid  always  place  them 
in,  as  above  said,  one  by  one,  so  as  to  allow  the  solution  to  pass  over 
one  plate  before  another  one  is  placed  on  it. 

!Never  place  large  and  small  plates  in  the  same  solution  at  the 
same  time,  unless  all  of  the  large  plates  are  at  the  bottom  ;  for  if 
they  are  mixed  up,  first  large  and  then  small  ones,  the  weight  of 
the  upper  plates  will  cause  the  unevenly  supported  plates  below  to 
break,  and  it  is  also  a  very  difficult  thing  for  the  beginner  to  take 
them  out  when  so  mixed  up  without  breaking  a  number  of  them. 

It  would  be  a  good  thing  to  lap  the  edges  of  one  plate  over  an- 
other in  the  solution,  as  the  solution  will  pass  between  the  plates 
better. 

Both  the  strength  of  the  lye  and  acid  will  need  to  be  renewed 
every  month  or  so. 

Before  placing  the  plates  in  either  the  lye  or  acid  solutions  scrape 
the  edges  of  them  together,  and  in  the  future  treatment  of  them 
you  will  most  probably  derive  a  benefit,  as  the  collodio-chloride  will 
be  more  likely  to  keep  on  the  plate  during  the  toning,  fixing,  &c. 

Ground  plates  are  generally  very  difficult  to  clean  even  if  the  above 
advice  is  strictly  followed  out,  and  I  very  often  clean  them  after  they 


ALBUMENIZING   THE   PORCELAIN   PLATES.  169 

are  removed  from  the  lye  and  washed,  and  while  still  wet,  by  sprink- 
ling a  little  powdered  emery  on  that  side  which  is  to  be  used  for  print- 
ing, and  grinding  the  surface  evenly  by  means  of  a  flat  side  of  a  cork. 

Ground  plates  which  have  been  purchased,  and  are  unevenly 
ground,  can  thus  be  made  excellent  by  a  very  little  trouble. 

When  the  grinding  is  finished  wash  them  well  under  the  tap,  and 
place  them  for  a  day  or  so  in  the  acid  bath. 


CHAPTER   III. 
ALBUMINIZING  THE  PORCELAIN  PLATES. 

THE  porcelain  plates  are  now  to  be  albumenized,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose procure  three  large  fresh  country  eggs,  which  you  are  to  crack 
and  carefully  let  the  albumen  (the  white  part)  into  a  large  clean 
china  bowl,  being  careful  not  to  let  any  of  the  yolk  (the  yellow  part) 
of  the  eggs  into  it,  and  if  by  accident  a  trifle  of  it  should  get  in, 
then  remove  all  traces  of  it  by  the  use  of  a  spoon. 

Pour  the  albumen  into  a  clean  graduate,  and  note  the  number  of 
ounces  of  albumen,  and  add  just  as  many  more  of  pure  water. 

The  eggs  should  average  an  ounce  of  pure  albumen  each.  Pour 
the  diluted  albumen  back  into  the  bowl,  and  then  place  in  it  a  dozen 
drops  of  strong  aqua  ammonia,  and  with  an  ordinary  egg-beater 
beat  the  whole  up  to  as  stiff  a  froth  as  possible.  This  sh6uld  be  well 
and  carefully  done.  Let  settle  over  night,  covering  the  bowl  over 
with  a  glass.  In  the  morning  decant  the  solution,  leaving  the  froth 
in  the  bowl,  into  a  clean  bottle,  or  another  bowl,  and  filter  what  you 
need  into  a  thoroughly  clean  four-ounce  vial,  or  better  still  into  a 
tiny  tea-urn,  which  has  a  nose  leading  to  the  bottom  part  of  the 
ware,  for  then  in  pouring  the  solution  out  there  will  be  no  bubbles, 
for  they  are  at  the  surface  if  there  are  any  at  all. 

A  good  plan,  whether  you  may  have  the  toy  tea-urn  or  not,  is  to 
let  the  lower  part  of  the  funnel  rest  against  the  inside 
of  the  vial  (Fig.  50),  thus  permitting  the  albumen  to 
run  down  the  side,  breaking  the  fall  of  the  filtered  solu- 
tion, and  thus  preventing  bubbles  from  being  formed. 

Filter  through  one  or  two  thicknesses  of  good  filter- 
ing-paper, and  if  the  albumen  is  not  clear,  then  filter 
until  it  is. 

Always  keep  enough  ammonia  in  the  solution  for  it 
to  continually  give  forth  a  slight  odor. 

I  have  recommended  the  albumen  solution  to  be 

12 


170  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

used  quite  thick,  as  the  film  on  the  plate  will  not  be  near  so  likely 
to  be  removed  in  the  subsequent  operations  of  the  porcelain  print, 
which  is  so  very  troublesome  both  to  the  beginner  and  to  the  "  old 
hand." 

The  plates  are  now  to  be  removed,  one  at  a  time  as  they  are 
wanted,  from  the  acid  and  held  up  to  the  light,  and  the  edges  of 
them  looked  at  to  determine  the  convex  side  of  them,  if  there  is 
any ;  but  if  there  is  not,  then  choose  the  best  of  the  two  sides,  and 
proceed  to  wash  thoroughly  under  the  tap,  rubbing  the  sides  and 
edges  of  the  glass  well  with  a  mat,  so  that  the  fingers,  which  are 
often  a  little  greasy  in  spite  of  your  precautions  to  the  contrary,  may 
not  come  into  contact  with  the  face  of  the  porcelain. 

Hold  the  glass  while  it  is  washing  by  the  edges,  or  extreme  cor- 
ners, and  when  it  is  sufficiently  washed  take  it  out  of  the  dark-room 
(where  you  albumenize  the  plates)  to  see  as  to  whether  it  is  fit  to  be 
albumenized,  and  if  it  is  then  give  it  a  final  rinse  with  filtered  rain- 
water (filtered  as  it  comes  from  the  tap),  and  then  carefully  pour  the 
albumen  solution  on  the  upper  part  of  the  plate,  midway  between 
the  two  corners,  and  let  it  flow  over  the  plate,  first  to  the  upper  left- 
hand  corner,  then  to  the  upper  right,  next  to  the  lower  left  (Avhich 
is  the  corner  by  which  the  plate  should  be  held),  and  finally  care- 
fully pour  off  at  the  lower  right-hand  corner  into  another  bottle. 

Do  not  pour  on  but  a  little  more  albumen  than  what  will  cover 
the  plate,  and  before  using  again  the  small  quantity  that  may 
have  been  left  after  you  are  through  albumenizing,  it  should  be 
filtered. 

Now  place  the  plate  which  you  have  albumenized,  still  holding 
on  at  the  same  corner,  either  in  a  rack,  or  upon  two  nails  (see  Fig. 
3),  to  dry,  letting  the  drops  fall  upon  blotting-paper,  so  that  their 
fall  will  not  raise  a  cloud  of  dust.  Permit  the  plates  to  dry  spon- 
taneously. 


CHAPTER   IV. 
MAKING  THE  POEGELAIN  COLLODION. 

I  WILL  below  give  a  formula  for  the  making  of  the  collodio- 
chloride  which  I  know  to  be  good,  having  used  it  for  more  than  two 
years,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  I  never  knew  a  batch  of  this  collo- 


MAKING   THE   PORCELAIN   COLLODION.  171 

dion  to  fail  any  one  who  has  ever  used  it,  providing  it  was  properly 
mixed  in  the  making  of  it. 

If  the  porcelain  collodion  is  not  carefully  mixed  and  made,  it  is 
the  most  fickle  of  all  collodions. 

The  purest  of  chemicals  and  great  care  are  required,  both  in  the 
mixing  together  of  the  different  solutions  and  in  always  keeping  the 
collodion  when  it  is  made  in  absolute  darkness,  else  it  will  be  worth- 
less, for  if  it  is  exposed  to  the  light  it  will  become  discolored,  and  a 
chemical  action  is  commenced  which  will,  in  a  short  time,  render  it 
as  worthless  as  so  much  dirty  water. 

For  this  reason  photographers,  to  guard  against  the  actinic  light 
getting  at  the  contents  of  the  bottle,  should  not  only  keep  it  in  a  dark 
place,  but  wrap  printed  and  untoned  paper  around  it,  so  that  every 
part  of  the  bottle  will  be  covered,  and  only  a  little  of  the  neck  will 
show ;  and  no  more  of  that  than  what  is  required  for  the  purpose  of 
pouring  the  contents  out,  so  as  not  to  have  the  collodion  to  touch 
the  paper.  The  writer  generally  uses  a  couple  of  thicknesses  of 
yellow  envelope  paper. 

Another  thing  for  the  beginner  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  he  should 
always  mix  the  different  solutions,  in  the  making  of  the  collodio- 
chloride,  a  drop  or  two  at  a  time,  and  no  more,  for  then  the  solutions 
will  be  more  likely  to  get  mixed  together  than  if  you  were  to  pour 
them  in  quicker.  As  a  rule,  always  bear  in  mind  that  the  slower 
the  solutions  are  mixed  together  the  longer  time  will  the  collodion 
keep  in  a  good  condition. 

Then  again,  always  handle  the  bottle  of  collodion  as  gently  as 
possible,  so  as  not  to  shake  the  contents  any  more  than  is  really 
necessary. 

Mix  the  solutions  in  the  order  given  below,  and  never  otherwise. 

When  ready  to  make  the  collodion,  first  proceed  to  make  up 
four  solutions,  which  will  be  stock,  and  which  will  at  some  future 
time  enable  you  to  make  up  more  collodion  in  a  short  time,  as  you 
will  only  have  to  take  a  certain  quantity  of  each  of  the  stock  solu- 
tions and  mix  them  together. 

A. — Plain  Collodion. 

Alcohol,  95°,  .  .  .  .  .  «...'?*•  7.'  ;  .  «  .  7  ounces. 
Ether,  .  ;  ?  ..  •*,  ^  .  »•  .  w  ,»..  »...  •«  .-  .•  9  ounces. 
Gun-cotton,  .  .  ...  .  .  ,  .  .  .  .  112  grains. 

B. — Silver  Solution. 

Nitrate  of  Silver, 480  grains. 

Distill  jd  Water,  1  ounce. 


172  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 


C. — Calcium  Solution. 

Chloride  of  Calcium, 128  grains. 

Alcohol,  95°,    ; 4  ounces. 

D.— Citric  Acid  Solution. 

Citric  Acid, 128  grains. 

Alcohol,  95°, '  ....       4  ounces. 

Label  each  of  these  bottles,  and  state  plainly  what  the  contents  of 
each  bottle  consists  of,  and  exactly  how  it  was  made,  in  fact,  write 
the  whole  formula  on  each  label. 

Obtain  a  ten-ounce  collodion  bottle  which  is  thoroughly  clean,  and 
rinse  it  out  with  a  little  ether.  Carefully  decant  8  ounces  of  A,  after 
it  has  been  standing  for  a  few  days,  into  this  bottle,  and  next  add 
64  drops  of  B,  adding  but  two  or  three  drops  at  a  time,  shaking  well 
between  each  addition  to  prevent  the  silver  from  precipitating. 

Now  add  in  the  same  way  4  drachms  of  C,  adding  two  drops  at  a 
time.  This  last  addition  is  the  most  important  of  all,  for  the  mo- 
ment a  drop  of  this  is  added,  it  will  commence  to  turn  milky,  and 
chloride  of  silver  is  formed.  This  last  addition  should  be  done  in 
the  dark,  and  it  would  be  well  for  the  beginner  to  heed  it,  for  from 
this  time  until  the  collodion  is  used  up,  the  bottle  should  always  be  kept 
in  the  dark. 

Finally,  there  should  be  4  drachms  of  D  added  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  calcium. 

The  beginner  must  bear  in  mind  that  chloride  of  silver  is  far  more 
sensitive  to  the  light  than  nitrate  of  silver,  besides  giving  a  softer, 
finer,  and  more  delicate  print  than  the  latter. 

It  is  on  this  account  that  the  paper  which  is  used  in  the  positive 
process  is  salted  generally  with  chloride  of  ammonium,  although 
chloride  of  barium  is  sometimes  used,  so  that  we  have  a  paper  pre- 
pared which,  when  floated  upon  a  bath  of  nitrate  of  silver,  the 
chloride  in  the  paper  will  take  up  from  the  bath  the  silver  which  it 
needs  and  form  chloride  of  silver,  which  will  print,  as  before  said, 
much  better  than  nitrate.  Now  the  same  thing  is  the  case  in  the 
making  of  the  collodio-chloride,  with  the  exception  that  we  cannot 
prepare  the  porcelain  plate  with  a  chloride  as  in  the  case  of  the 
paper,  neither  can  we  float  or  swab  the  plate  successfully.  To  over- 
come this,  we  make  a  collodio(n)-chloride  which  will  in  its  composi- 
tion combine  all  of  the  nature  of  the  albumen  or  the  plain  salted 
paper  and  the  nitrate  bath.  The  chloride  of  calcium,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  nitrate  of  silver  in  the  collodion,  will  form  a  chloride 
of  silver,  which  is  just  what  we  wish.  The  plain  collodion  in  the 


MAKING   THE   PORCELAIN   COLLODION.  173 

above  collodio(n)-chloride  is  to  give  a  tough  body  (when  viewed  in 
one  direction)  to  the  solution,  which  body  is  increased  or  diminished 
according  to  the  number  of  grains  of  cotton  there  may  be  to  the 
ounce  of  collodion,  and  to  prevent  it  from  getting  thicker  than  it 
is  already ;  then  keep  this  plain  collodion,  as  well  as  the  collodio- 
chloride  bottle,  tightly  corked. 

The  nitrate  of  silver  in  the  above  solution  answers  the  place  of 
the  positive  nitrate  of  silver  bath,  and  the  chloride  of  calcium,  which 
is  the  chloride  I  always  use,  takes  the  place  of  the  chloride  of  am- 
monium in  the  paper,  and  the  chloride  of  silver  (which  is  formed  by 
the  nitrate  of  silver  and  the  chloride  of  calcium  uniting)  in  the  col- 
lodion is  the  same  as  the  chloride  of  silver  which  is  formed  in  the 
paper  when  floated  upon  the  nitrate  bath. 

To  get  a  richer  tone  to  the  freshly  silvered  paper,  as  well  as  to 
coagulate  the  albumen  and  prevent  the  solution  from  penetrating 
too  far  into  the  paper,  alum,  nitrate  of  ammonium  (especially  the 
former),  are  generally  used,  and  to  get  a  richer  tone  in  the  collodio- 
chloride,  citric  acid  is  used  in  the  quantity  recommended  above. 

In  place  of  using  the  chloride  of  calcium,  many  photographers  use 
the  chloride  of  lithium  or  strontium,  but  I  have  always  liked  the 
calcium  best,  although  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  given  either  of  the 
above  (i.  e.,  lithium  or  strontium)  a  very  fair  trial.  The  chloride  of 
calcium,  however,  is  the  most  used  of  the  above-named  chlorides. 

When  the  collodion  is  well  made,  it  will  have  a  most  delicate 
pearly  whiteness  to  it,  which  is  the  most  beautiful  color  of  that  kind 
that  I  ever  saw. 

It  can  be  worked  with  good  results  in  a  day  after  it  is  made,  but 
it  is  in  fine  working  order  in  about  a  week.  I  have  used  it  when  it 
has  been  four  months  old,  and  with  the  exception,  in  hot  weather, 
of  a  very  slight  tinge  of  yellowness,  it  has  been  all  right. 

If  porcelain  collodion  is  made  to  keep  for  a  long  time,  the  greatest 
pains  should  be  given  in  adding  the  silver  and  calcium  to  the  collo- 
dion so  as  to  have  it  properly  mixed.  It  should  be  made  more 
sensitive  in  winter  than  in  summer,  and  for  the  beautiful  imita- 
tion, the  u  photo-porcelain, "  it  would  be  better  if  the  proportion  of 
chloride  of  silver  were  six  grains  instead  of  eight,  as  the  shadows 
in  the  making  of  this  style  of  picture  are  more  given  to  bronzing 
than  in  the  real  porcelain,  but  for  the  porcelain  itself  eight  grains 
is  the  best. 


174  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

CHAPTER    V. 
COATING,  FUMING,  AND  DRYING  THE  PLATES. 

COATING. 

THE  plate,  when  albumenized,  is  then  to  be  coated  with  the  col- 
lodio-chloride. 

For  this  purpose,  take  the  plate  to  a  room  where  there  is  not  too 
much  white  light,  for  instance  in  the  "dark-room,"  when  the  door 
is  slightly  opened.  Brush  away  the  dried  collodion  film  and  what- 
ever dust  there  may  be  around  the  cork,  being  careful  not  to  shake 
the  contents  of  the  bottle  while  doing  so. 

Hold  the  plate  with  the  left  hand,  level  to  the  floor,  having  hold 
of  the  lower  left-hand  corner,  and  take  up  the  bottle  of  collodion 
in  the  right,  and  remove  the  cork  with  the  teeth,  if  you  have  pre- 
viously neglected  to  do  so. 

Pour  the  collodion  at  the  centre  of  the  upper  part  of  the  plate 
until  that  half  is  covered,  and  then  discontinue.  Let  the  collodion 
flow  over  to  the  corners  of  the  plate  as  I  have  recommended  in  Al- 
bumenizing  the  Plate  (see  Chapter  III,  Part  III),  and  when  the 
collodion  is  ready  to  be  poured  from  the  plate,  take  up  another  collo- 
dion bottle  (which  should  be  kept  expressly  for  this  particular  pur- 
pose) and  let  the  collodion  flow  into  that. 

There  is  a  knack  in  doing  this,  which  consists  in  letting  the  plate 
lie  almost  level  to  the  floor  until  the  greater  part  of  the  collodion 
has  flowed  into  the  bottle,  then  the  plate  is  raised  more  perpendicu- 
lar, and  gently  rocked  sideways,  so  as  to  prevent  parallel  lines  form- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  corner  from  which  it  was  flowed,  which 
it  would  do  if  precautions  were  not  taken  to  prevent  it. 

If  the  collodion  is  flowed  from  the  plate  too  quickly,  it  will  be  too 
thick  on  the  bottom  of  the  plate,  and  if  the  rocking  of  the  plate  is 
not  commenced  before  the  collodion  has  begun  to  set,  the  parallel 
lines  will  show  in  spite  of  all  the  subsequent  rocking.  In  drying, 
however,  it  will  about  all  disappear. 

If  the  plate  is  properly  coated,  it  will  have  an  even  layer  of  collo- 
dion all  over  the  surface,  and  will  not  be  at  all  "  streaky,"  but  on 
the  contrary  very  smooth. 

Flow  close  to  the  edges  and  corners  of  the  plate,  being  careful  that 
it  does  not  run  over  the  sides.  Do  not  remove  the  collodion  which 


COATING,    FUMING,   AND    DRYING   THE   PLATES.       175 

may  be  a  little  thick  along  the  sides  nearest  the  corner  at  which  it 
was  poured  off,  as  it  will  be  a  great  aid  in  keeping  the  collodion  from 
"peeling  off." 

Keep  gently  rocking  the  plate  until  the  collodion  is  thoroughly  set, 
which  is  easily  determined  by  placing  the  finger  gently  at  the  corner 
from  which  it  was  poured  off,  and  if  the  collodion  does  not  adhere, 
but  leaves  a  mark  of  the  impression  of  the  finger,  then  you  may  know 
that  the  film  is  set. 

FUMING. 

The  plate,  while  still  moist,  is  to  be  fumed.  This  can  be  done  in 
the  ordinary  fuming-box.  Hang  up  the  plate  by  one  of  its  corners 
to  a  spring  nipper,  and  place  three  or  four  drachms  of  the  strongest 
aqua  ammonia  in  a  saucer,  which  saucer  is  placed  under  the  plate, 
on  the  bottom  of  the  box.  Fume  from  two  to  three  minutes,  and  no 
more,  and  then  the  plate  is  ready  to  be  removed. 

DRYING. 

This  should  be  done  by  gentle  heat.  The  plate  should  be  stood 
up,  by  support  of  a  side  of  the  negative  oven,  on  one  of  its  corners, 
and  the  door  is  closed.  This  oven  should  be  heated  with  a  tiny  jet 
of  gas  which  is  capital  for  the  purpose. 

When  the  plate  is  dry,  which  it  will  be  in  a  very  few  minutes,  then 
remove  it  immediately,  and  set  it  away  in  a  cool  place  until  it  cools. 

If  the  plate  is  permitted  to  get  too  hot,  then  the  heat  will  cook  the 
albumen,  also  collodion,  and  it  will  cause  the  film  to  be  ruined  before 
you  have  even  commenced  to  print  on  it,  turning  it  to  a  very  yellow 
color.  Watch  the  plate  while  it  is  in  the  oven,  so  that  you  will  not 
forget  it  and  have  the  above-named  ruinous  results  occur.  It  would 
perhaps  be  better  for  the  beginner  to  hold  the  back  of  the  plate  for 
a  minute  or  so  in  front  of  the  door  of  a  hot  stove,  if  he  cannot  dry 
it  in  the  oven  without  forgetting  and  thus  baking  it.  Baking  may 
be  a  good  thing  for  "the  staff  of  life^"  but  it  is  not  particularly  so 
for  collodionized  porcelain  plates. 

Do  not  take  hold  of  the  plate,  if  it  should  happen  to  be  very  hot, 
either  with  wet,  damp,  or  very  cold  fingers,  as  the  plate  will  be 
liable  to  break. 


176  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

CHAPTER   VI. 
PORCELAIN  PBINTING-BOARDS. 

FOR  the  purpose  of  printing  the  porcelain  successfully,  different 
printing-boards  have  been  invented,  which  are  constructed  in  a  dif- 
ferent style  from  the  ordinary  negative-boards  or  frames. 

Those  which  are  now  generally  used  are  known  by  the  name  of 
"  Jacoby's  Porcelain  Printing-Frames."  Use  them,  viz.  : 

First  it  is  necessary  that  a  good  sharp  negative  is  had,  then  loosen 
the  thumb-screw  on  the  hinged  clamp  at  the  bottom  of  the  frame, 
place  the  negative  in  the  clamp  so  as  to  rest  on  the  wood  at  the  sides 
of  the  padded  bed,  then  fasten  by  the  thumb-screw  so  as  to  not  move 
out  of  position.  The  strips  that  rest  on  the  edge  of  the  negative  at 
the  sides  are  for  vignetting  the  picture.  Cut  a  piece  of  cardboard 
the  size  that  will  slip  in  the  small  grooves,  with  a  hole  in  the  size 
you  want. 

After  placing  the  negative  as  above,  take  a  piece  of  strong  paper 
and  put  it  in  the  clamp  as  before,  then  put  some  mucilage  or  wax 
in  the  centre,  lay  your  porcelain  plate  in  the  position  you  want  it, 
then  throw  the  wire  loops  toward  each  other.  This  will  make  room 
for  the  plate  between  the  bed  and  the  negative.  If  it  does  not  fill 
up  the  space,  the  four  set-screws  at  the  back  of  the  frame  will  make 
it  vary  just  to  fit ;  then  print  as  in  any  other  way. 

In  printing  the  porcelain  photograph  care  should  be  used  not  to 
print  too  long  when  separated,  and  that  the  space  should  not  be  too 
much.     For  heads  one  inch   in  size  the 
FIG.  si.  space  should  be  about  one-twelfth  or  one- 

sixteenth  inch,  and  less  for  small  ones. 
Three  inch  heads  should  be  three  and  one- 
sixteenth  or  one-quarter  inch,  and  in  all 
cases  the  negative  must  rest  on  the  wood 
at  the  sides  of  the  frame ;  for  when  you 
would  separate  the  negative,  the  negative 
would  follow  the  bed,  and  not  give  any 
space,  and,  of  course,  spoil  the  picture. 
Printing  should  always  be  done  in  the 
shade  or  under  tissue-paper. 

The  "  Jacoby  Frames  "  are  excellent  in  all  of  their  parts,  being 
so  made  as  to  secure  perfect  contact  between  the  negative  and  porce- 
lain, however  uneven  they  both  may  be. 


PLACING   THE   SENSITIVE   PLATE   FOR   PRINTING.       177 


CHAPTER   VII. 

PLACING  THE  SENSITIVE  PLATE  ON  THE  BOAED 
FOB  PRINTING. 

I  WILL  only  describe  how  the  plate  and  negative  are  arranged 
for  printing  on  one  kind  of  board,  viz. :  "  Jacoby's  Porcelain  Print- 
ing-Frame." 

First  darken  the  room  by  pulling  down  the  curtains,  and  take  the 
printing-board  to  the  darkest  part  of  the  room,  away  from  the  win- 
dow, but  not  in  such  a  dark  place  that  you  will  experience  any  diffi- 
culty in  seeing. 

Loosen  the  screw  which  loosens  the  narrow  strip  of  wood,  as  seen 
in  the  printing-frame  (Fig.  51).  Place  the  edge  of  the  porcelain 
plate  under  this  strip  of  wood,  being  sure  that  the  collod ionized 
side  is  uppermost,  and  fasten  the  wood  to  it  by  the  same  screw. 
The  porcelain  plate  will  then  be  held  firmly. 

If  the  plate  is  a  smaller  one  than  is  really  intended  for  the  size 
frame  which  you  may  have,  as  a  £  size  plate,  and  you  may  not  have 
but  this  one  8  x  10  board,  you  cannot  place  the  edge  of  one  of  the 
sides  of  the  porcelain  under  the  bar,  because  then  you  cannot  man- 
age the  negative  so  that  the  porcelain  can  be  advantageously  printed. 

In  that  case  fasten  the  negative  to  the  frame,  as  will  presently  be 
shown,  and  place  the  porcelain  plate  at  the  place  you  wish  it,  i.  e., 
as  near  as  you  can  at  present  tell,  and  hold  the  negative  over  the 
plate  by  means  of  the  woodwork,  at  about  a  half  inch  from  it,, 
and  move  the  porcelain  so  that  it  will  occupy  the  exact  place  you 
wish  it  to,  and  then  lay  back  the  negative  carefully,  so  as  not  to 
move  the  porcelain  in  doing  so.  Now  obtain  some  beeswax,  and 
place  a  bit  on  the  board  close  to  all  of  the  sides  of,  but  pressed  against, 
the  porcelain.  Hold  the  porcelain  firmly  by  the  opposite  side  when- 
ever you  press  on  a  particular  side,  and  you  will  prevent  it  from 
being  moved.  In  placing  this  wax  there  be  sure  that  you  get  none 
of  it  on  the  face  of  the  porcelain,  nor  should  you  allow  the  wax  to 
remain  above  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the  plate,  but  considerably 
below  it,  for  you  must  remember  that  the  face  of  the  negative  is 
coming  into  close  contact  with  the  porcelain,  and  if  the  above  is  not 
strictly  followed  out  the  porcelain  will  not  only  move  when  you  raise 
the  negative,  but  the  negative  will  be  spoiled. 


178  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  negative  is  then  fastened  in  a  slit  made  in  the  bar  provided 
in  the  printing-frame.  This  bar  is  easily  turned  back  when  it  is  re- 
quired by  means  of  a  hinge,  and  the  level  of  it  is  raised  higher  or 
let  down  lower,  as  you  may  require  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the 
negative  and  porcelain  in  close  contact.  This  is  aided  by  another 
bar  which  is  held  in  position  by  thumb-screws  whenever  it  is  finally 
fixed  in  its  proper  position. 

When  you  are  ready  to  place  the  negative  in  the  frame  first  loosen 
the  screws,  place  the  negative  in  the  place  intended  for  it  in  the  bar, 
tighten  the  screws,  and  lay  it  on  to  the  porcelain,  and  it  will  then  as- 
sume its  proper  place,  when  it  is  pressed  in  contact  by  the  hand. 
Now  fasten  the  screws,  and  be  sure  that  they  are  tightened  during 
all  the  printing.  The  springs  are  then  placed  on  to  the  negative, 
and  the  porcelain  is  ready  for  printing. 

To  examine  the  print  move  the  clamp  springs,  and  raise  the  nega- 
tive by  the  bar,  and  not  by  taking  hold,  of  the  negative  itself. 

Further  directions  are  given  by  Mr.  Jacoby  with  each  frame. 
Scovill  Manufacturing  Co.  make  them,  and  all  dealers  sell  them. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
FEINTING  VIGNETTE  PORCELAINS. 

FOR  the  purpose  of  printing  a  vignette  porcelain  a  block  is  made 
•similar  to  those  which  have  been  described  in  Part  I.  The  block 
should  have  a  pasteboard  fastened  to  it,  upon  which  the  clamping 
springs  of  the  porcelain  board  can  be  fastened,  which  will  then,  be- 
sides keeping  the  porcelain  and  the  negative  in  close  contact,  also 
hold  the  vignette-block  in  its  place. 

The  same  attention  is  required  in  vignetting  porcelains  as  is  nec- 
essary in  printing  positives  on  paper  ;  so  choose  a  suitable  vignette- 
block,  and  cover  it  with  tissue-paper  before  placing  the  porcelain 
out  to  print. 

In  case  the  background  is  a  poor  one  it  should  be  taken  out,  as 
has  beem  explained  in  Part  II,  Chapter  VI,  the  only  difference'  be- 
tween .the  two  being,  in  one  the  print  is  on  paper,  whereas  here  it 
is  on  porcelain. 

I  have  very  often  taken  out  faulty  backgrounds,  and  have  printed 
in  fine  ones,  and  the  result  has  often  been  very  satisfactory  to  me, 
for  they  looked  very  fine,  and  also  as  if  it  was  the  original  back- 
ground. 


FEINTING   MEDALLION   PORCELAINS.  179 

"When  the  high-lights  of  the  face  of  the  printed  porcelain  are  too 
blanky  they  should  be  toned  down  by  exposure  to  the  light  for  a 
couple  of  seconds  or  so,  which  is  best  done  by  obtaining  a  suitable 
piece  of  a  dark  or  opaque  paper,  and,  tearing  a  piece  out  of  it,  leav- 
ing a  hole  which  should  be  full  as  large  as  the  place  to  be  tinted. 
(See  Fig.  34.)  Hold  it  out  in  the  light,  and  keep  the  paper  in  con- 
stant motion  while  there,  so  that  there  will  not  be  any  harsh  edges. 


CHAPTER   IX. 
PRINTING  MEDALLION  PORCELAINS. 

PERHAPS  some  of  my  readers  will  say  that  this  style  of  porcelain 
picture  is  never  printed,  but  allow  me  to  say  to  the  contrary,  for  I 
have  very  often  seen  very  good  results  obtained  with  this  style  of 
printing,  and  which,  on  account  of  their  novelty,  was  very  pleasing, 

When  you  have  an  old  negative,  and  there  is  a  porcelain  wanted 
from  it,  then  it  can  sometimes  be  printed  in  a  medallion  very  nicely, 
especially  when  the  draperies  are  very  black,  and  the  background  is 
also  very  dark,  both  of  which  are  very  troublesome  in  vignetting  to 
obtain  fine  feathering  to  the  halos. 

These  medallion  porcelain  prints  look  very  pretty  when  the  porce- 
lain to  be  printed  is  to  be  of  a  small  size,  as  a  ^  size  plate,  but  for 
anything  larger  than  that  size  we  do  not  like  them  at  all. 

When  the  medallion  style  of  porcelain  printing  is  made  it  should 
be  put  up  in  a  square  opening,  either  in  the  now  fashionable  gilt 
easel,  or  in  the  more  sober-looking  passepartout. 

To  print  these  porcelains  in  the  medallion  style  you  should  follow 
out  all  of  the  particulars  that  have  been  fully  explained  in  a  chapter 
devoted  to  that  in  Part  I,  viz.,  Medallion  and  Arch-Top  Printing. 
Place  the  right  side  of  the  mask  (background)  at  its  proper  place  ou 
the  face  of  the  negative,  and  then  place  the  porcelain  out  to  the  dif- 
fused rays  of  the  sunlight  to  print.  Now  print  the  crescent  line  on 
it,  as  you  would  do  with  a  paper  print.  Do  not  tint  the  outside 
very  dark,  a  neutral  shade  between  the  background  and  the  shaded 
crescent  line  being  about  right. 

In  placing  the  mask  on  the  porcelain  to  shade  the  line  be  very 
careful  that  you  do  not  scratch  the  film,  for  it  is  very  tender. 


180  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

CHAPTER   X. 
WASHING  THE  PORCELAINS. 

THE  porcelain  when  printed,  and  the  high-lights  tinted  a  trifle  (if 
they  need  it),  is  then  ready  to  be  washed  and  toned,  which  had  better 
be  done  as  soon  as  printed. 

Take  the  porcelain  and  go  into  the  toning-room  and  arrange  the 
light  so  that  it  will  not  be  too  strong,  and  whatever  further  opera- 
tions you  may  do  to  the  porcelain,  before  you  are  through  with  it, 
should  be  done  away  from  the  window,  especially  in  the  toning  of  it, 
as  will  be,  presently  shown.  Now  take  a  four-ounce  vial,  partly  filled 
with  good  alcohol  (not  necessarily  95  per  cent.),  and  before  you  wash 
the  porcelain  a  particle  with  water  you  should  flow  the  contents  of  this 
vial  over  the  prints,  say  half  a  dozen  times,  or  until  the  print  has 
turned  a  beautiful  red  color,  which  it  will  do  in  a  very  few  minutes. 

In  pouring  the  alcohol  on  the  plate,  do  not  pour  it  always  on  one 
place,  but  at  a  different  one  each  time,  and  be  sure  that  the  alcohol 
flows  over  all  parts  of  the  porcelain  plate  at  the  first  flow,  or  else  a 
harsh  edge  will  be  the  result,  which  sometimes  does  not  disappear 
in  the  final  washings  either  with  the  alcohol  or  the  water,  although 
it  may  be  said  that  this  occurs  very  seldom.  Do  not  keep  pouring 
on  the  alcohol  until  the  porcelain  has  turned  a  yellowish-red  color, 
for  this  is  very  objectionable,  and  you  may  set  it  down  as  a  rule 
when  this  color  appears,  then  the  strength  of  the  print  is  fast  disap- 
pearing. 

When  the  print  has  turned  a  rich  and  warm  color,  which,  if  it  has 
not  been  fumed  too  long,  it  will  do  in  fifteen  to  twenty-five  seconds, 
the  plate  is  ready  to  be  washed  tolerably  well  under  a  tap  of  rain- 
water. 

At  first  the  film  will  repel  the  water,  owing  to  its  being  soaked 
with  alcohol,  but  in  a  couple  of  minutes  or  so  the  water  will  run 
smoothly  over  it.  In  the  winter  the  plate  had  better  be  washed  with 
lukewarm  (no  warmer)  water,  and  never  think  of  such  a  thing 
(much  less  acting  upon  it)  as  washing  the  porcelain  with  ice-cold 
water. 

In  placing  the  plate  under  the  tap  to  wash,  do  not  permit  too  large 
a  stream  of  water  to  flow  on  it,  for  you  must  remember  that  the  film 
will  be  more  likely  to  slide  off  the  plate  if  the  water  should  manage 
to  get  a  little  under  a  corner  with  a  large  and  heavy  stream  than  it 


TONING   THE   PORCELAIN.  181 

would  with  a  small  one.  Do  not  let  the  water  fall  all  of  the  time  at 
one  place  on  the  plate,  but  move  it  so  that  it  will  fall  at  different 
parts  of  the  plate,  and  as  this  washing  does  not  require  more  than 
four  or  five  minutes  at  the  most,  the  beginner  had  better  hold  the 
plate  in  his  hand  during  the  whole  time  of  washing,  as  the  result 
will  probably  be  better. 

A  good  way  to  tell  when  the  plate  is  sufficiently  washed  is  to  taste 
a  drop  or  two  of  the  water  which  has  drained  last  from  the  plate, 
after  it  is  removed  from  the  flow  of  the  pipe,  and  also  after  the  plate 
has  washed  awhile,  and  if  you  do  not  taste  any  of  the  silver,  you 
can  conclude  that  the  plate  is  washed  plenty. 

An  acetic  acid  wash,  for  the  porcelains,  is  not  a  very  good  thing 
compared  with  alcohol,  as  a  trial  of  the  two  will  prove. 


CHAPTER  XL 
TONING  THE  POBCELAIN. 

MAKE  up,  while  your  porcelain  is  printing,  a  toning  solution  as 
recommended  below,  so  that  it  will  have  a  chance  to  ripen  before  it 
is  required. 

The  toning  solution  for  porcelains,  as  well  as  for  prints,  should 
have  a  chance  to  get  ripe  before  it  is  used,  and  it  should  therefore  be 
made  up  at  least  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  before  it  is  wanted.  Take 
a  clean  six-ounce  wide-mouth  vial  and  let  fall  about  fifteen  drops  of 
a  stock  solution  of  chloride  of  gold  into  it,  said  stock  solution  being 
one  grain  of  gold  to  the  ounce  of  water.  Place  in  it  a  piece  of  litmus- 
paper,  which  will  turn  red,  and  add  drop  by  drop  of  a  saturated  solu- 
tion of  bicarbonate  of  soda  to  it  until  the  paper  will  turn  a  little  blue, 
shaking  the  bottle  in  the  meantime.  Now  add  about  four  ounces  of 
filtered  rain-water,  and  shake  well. 

Cover  it  up  with  a  piece  of  glass,  and  let  it  stand  for  about  five 
minutes  in  the  sunlight,  and  then  place  it  in  the  toning-room  until 
ready  for  use.  In  winter,  and  often  in  the  summer,  it  is  an  excel- 
lent plan  to  slightly  warm  the  toning  solution,  and  allow  it  to  cool 
to  a  lukewarm  state.  The  object  of  this  is  to  make  it  tone  more 
quickly,  and  also  better  than  it  would  with  a  cold  toning  solution. 

I  have  advised  to  make  the  toning  solution  in  a  bottle  for  the  pur- 
pose of  "toning  by  hand,"  but  I  should  advise  the  beginner  to  make 
up  the  solution  in  a  dish,  for  instance,  a  quarter  size,  and  tone  in 
that. 


182  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

If  you  tone  by  hand  never  pour  the  solution  twice  on  the  same 
place,  but  at  different  places,  and  these  places  should  be  in  the 
shadows,  and  not  in  the  face,  for  uneven  toning  will  often  be  the 
result,  the  high-lights  and  half-tints  toning  a  little  quicker  where  it 
is  poured  on  a  number  of  times  than  it  does  elsewhere ;  on  the  whole, 
it  is  better  not  to  pour  it  on  the  printed  picture  at  all,  but  on  various 
parts  of  the  margin  of  the  porcelain,  providing  it  can  be  so  done. 

In  toning  the  porcelain  in  a  dish,  keep  it  constantly  under  the 
surface  of  the  solution,  and  keep  a  slight  motion  to  the  toning  solu- 
tion constantly. 

The  light  for  toning  is  a  matter  of  considerable  importance,  for 
this,  and  this  alone,  is  in  by  far  the  majority  of  cases  the  sole  cause 
of  overtoiling,  because  we  tone  our  porcelains  to  what  we  think  to-be 
the  right  tint,  toning  in  a  strong  light,  and  consequently  when  the 
porcelain  is  fixed  we  find  that  "it  is  overtoned." 

You  should  tone  in  a  weak  light,  and  only  until  the  high-lights 
and  half-tints  of  the  face  commence  to  look  a  trifle  blue,  at  which 
time  the  porcelain  is  toned,  and  the  solution  is  to  be  washed  imme- 
diately off. 

If  you  were  to  examine  a  porcelain,  as  toned  in  a  weak  light,  in  a 
very  much  stronger  one,  it  will  appear  to  be  undertoned,  but  it  is 
not,  and  the  beginner  will  do  well  to  remember  that  a  porcelain  can- 
not be  toned  as  much  as  you  would  a  paper  print,  for  it  would  be 
very  much  overtoned. 

Considerable  experience  is  required  to  tone  them  properly,  and 
"  to  keep  your  hand  in  "  you  should  make  them  frequently. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
FIXING    THE  PORCELAIN. 

THE  porcelain,  when  toned,  and  the  toning  washed  off  the  plate, 
is  then  to  be  fixed  as  you  would  do  with  a  paper  print,  viz.,  with  a 
weak  solution  of  hyposulphite  of  soda. 

The  strength  of  the  hypo  is  generally  weaker  than  is  used  for 
fixing  paper  prints,  and  a  little  thinking  by  the  beginner  will  enable 
him  at  once  to  see  that  it  is  not  required  to  be  as  strong. 

In  the  case  of  the  paper  print,  the  silver  often  sinks  far  into  the 


FIXING   THE   PORCELAIN.  183 

albumen,  and  when  the  paper  has  been  floated  too  long  a  time,  say 
four  or  five  minutes,  as  has  been  recommended  by  some,  the  silver 
often  sinks  through,  and  into  the  bibulous  paper  beneath  the  al- 
bumen. 

When  a  paper  print  is  placed  in  the  fixing  bath,  a  stronger  solu- 
tion is  required  than  what  would  suffice  for  the  fixing  of  a  porcelain, 
because  it  has  got  to  penetrate  through  the  mere  surface  of  the  al- 
bumen, and  far  into  it  on  one  side ;  and  through  the  back  of  the 
paper  to  the  albumen,  and  also  a  little  into  that  on  the  other,  and 
there  do  its  work,  which  it  will  thoroughly  do  if  the  prints  are  moved 
about  sufficiently,  and  are  permitted  to  remain  in  the  bath  long 
enough.  It  is  not  an  easy  thing  for  the  hypo  solution  to  penetrate 
into  the  albumen  anyhow,  but  it  is  done  much  better  with  a  weak 
solution  and  a  longer  time  of  fixing,  than  it  is  with  a  strong  solution 
and  a  shorter  time  for  fixing.  The  albumen  is  a  substance  that  is 
not  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  wet  with  water,  yet  if  the  tem- 
perature of  the  water  is  bloodwarm  it  will,  in  a  short  time,  penetrate 
quite  a  way  into  the  paper,  at  least  as  far  as  the  silver  solution  pene- 
trated during  the  sensitizing  of  it, 

Now,  in  the  case  of  the  porcelain  print,  all  of  the  penetrating  of 
the  solution  is  done  on  one  side  of  the  porcelain,  and  through  some- 
thing that  is  more  easily  penetrated  through  than  what  albumen  is, 
and  a  considerably  weaker  solution  is  used  in  this  case,  as  has  before 
been  said ;  and  as  regards  the  tone,  it  is  much  better  than  it  would 
be  if  a  stronger  solution  than  what  is  recommended  below  were  to 
be  used. 

You  might  say  that  we  can  use  a  stronger  solution  and  fix  quicker, 
but  as  sure  as  you  do  it  the  tone  will  be  spoiled,  and  bleaching  will  be  the 
result. 

Make  up  the  bath  as  follows : 

Sat.  Sol.  Hyposulphite  of  Soda 1  ounce. 

Clean  Rain-water, 12  ounces. 

Sat.  Sol.  Bicarbonate  of  Soda, %  ounce. 

Fix  in  a  weak  light,  but  not  quite  so  weak  as  was  recommended  in 
the  toning;  fix  five  minutes,  or  until  the  face  of  the  porcelain  turns 
clear  in  tone,  after  the  hypo  has  once  turned  it  cloudy,  which  it 
will  do  the  moment  the  print  is  placed  in  the  bath. 

The  porcelain  print  undergoes  a  variety  of  changes  in  the  fixing 
bath,  often  immediately  turning  a  peculiar  green,  as  disagreeable  in 
looks  as  it  is  peculiar,  and  the  longer  the  plate  is  kept  in  the  bath 
the  worse  it  seems  to  look. 

Then  again  it  turns  yellow,  and  stays  so  too,  which  is  often  a  sure 


184  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

sign  of  undertoning,  and  if  it  turns  slate-blue  or  a  forced  brown 
color,  then  this  is  often  a  sure  sign  of  overtoning.  There  are,  how- 
ever, a  number  of  things  to  take  into  consideration,  which  will  be 
treated  of  in  Chapter  XVI. 

To  tell  when  a  porcelain  is  fixed  you  should  permit  it  to  remain 
in  the  fixing  bath  until  the  tone  to  which  you  have  toned  it  returns, 
and  then  if,  on  close  examination,  the  face  is  seen  to  be  clear,  then 
the  plate  is  fixed ;  if  it  is  not  clear,  let  it  remain  in  the  bath  until  it  is. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
FINAL  WASHING  OF  THE  PORCELAIN. 

THE  porcelain  when  fixed  is  then  to  receive  the  final  washing, 
which  will  render  the  plate  free  from  any  destroying  agent  that  will 
cause  the  print  to  fade,  at  least  so  far  as  anything  besides  the  plate 
itself  is  concerned. 

For  the  first  few  minutes  the  plate  is  carefully  washed  on  both 
sides  under  the  tap.  Bub  the  back  of  the  plate  with  one  hand,  hold- 
ing it  with  the  other,  and  permitting  the  water  from  the  tap  to  fall 
not  too  heavy  on  the  face  of  it. 

Set  the  plate  under  the  tap  (say,  for  instance,  on  one  end  of  an 
empty  salt-box),  and  let  a  steady  stream  of  water  fall  upon  it,  mov- 
ing it  at  times,  so  that  the  water  will  fall  at  a  different  place  every 
five  minutes. 

After  the  plate  has  washed  half  an  hour  or  so,  then  soaking  the 
plate  in  a  salt-water  bath,  made  as  below  given,  is  an  excellent 
thing. 

Lukewarm  Water, 1  gallon. 

Chloride  of  Sodium  (table  salt)  in  weight,    ....    2  ounces. 

This  warm  salt-water  bath  will  enter  right  into  the  film,  and  dis- 
place within  five  minutes  all  of  the  hypo  that  is  left  in  the  film,  after 
the  washing  just  described. 

Let  the  plate  remain  in  this  bath  five  or  ten  minutes,  and  then 
soak  it  in  two  more  lukewarm  water  baths,  but  let  these  baths  be  of 
fresh  water.  Give  the  plate  a  quick  final  washing  under  the  tap, 
and  rinse  well. 

During  the  first  washing  of  the  plate,  the  tone  of  the  print  often 
changes,  which  will  be  fully  entered  into  in  Chapter  XVI,  Part  III. 


DRYING    AND    TINTING   THE    PORCELAIN.  185 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DRYING  AND    TINTING    THE  PORCELAIN. 
DRYING. 

THE  plate  can  either  be  dried  spontaneously,  or  by  artificialheat, 
as  the  printer  chooses.  Each  of  these  is  best  at  times,  as  any  one 
who  has  ever  printed  porcelain  pictures  knows. 

Drying  by  heat  makes  the  tone  bluer  than  it  would  be  if  it  were 
allowed  to  dry  without.  Then,  again,  if  the  porcelain  is  to  be  dried 
by  heat,  place  it  in  the  negative  oven,  permitting  it  to  dry  gently. 
Before  placing  it  in,  however,  wipe  out  the  oven  with  a  damp  cloth ; 
and  in  drying  spontaneously,  hang  up  the  plate  upon  two  nails  away 
from  draughts,  which  may  cause  dust  to  settle  upon  it. 

TINTING. 

In  tinting  the  cheeks  and  lips,  you  can  either  do  it  with  a  flesh 
wash,  or  by  dry  color.  The  latter  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  cheeks 
and  lips  of  the  porcelain  print  after  the  plate  is  varnished,  because 
in  varnishing  the  plate,  after  the  dry  color  is  applied  to  it,  it  some- 
times comes  off  during  the  flowing  of  the  varnish  back  into  the 
bottle. 

If  the  plate  is  not  warmed  before  you  flow  the  varnish  on  it,  and 
is  dried  up  quickly,  the  color  will  not  disappear  ;  but  if  it  is  warmed 
before  varnishing,  it  will  surely  disappear. 

Proof :  Experience  in  varnishing  by  both  methods. 

The  object  in  first  warming  the  plate  before  varnishing  is  to  pre- 
vent it  from  getting  chilled  in  drying,  but  unless  it  is  very  cold 
indeed,  the  varnishing  and  drying  quickly  in  a  hot  oven  will  place 
a  splendid  gloss  on  the  plate. 

In  spotting,  mix  the  color  to  the  proper  tone,  being  sure  that  you 
also  have  gum  arabic  in  it  in  abundance. 

A  most  excellent  hit  is  to  color  the  hair  of  the  porcelain  print  if 
the  print  is  that  of  a  blonde — either  before  or  after  varnishing,  as 
may  suit  the  printer — with  a  little  of  dry  yellow  color,  and  the  effect 
win,  be  splendid. 


186  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

CHAPTER   XV. 
VARNISHING  THE  PORCELAIN. 

THE  porcelain  when  tinted,  spotted,  and  the  high-lights  placed  in 
the  eyes  if  necessary,  is  then  to  receive  a  coat  of  varnish,  which  will 
in  a  great  measure  protect  the  film  from  injury. 

White  shellac  varnish  is  necessary  for  this,  because  the  common 
yellow  lac  will  spoil  the  pure  white  of  the  porcelain.* 

To  make  this  varnish,  first  obtain  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of 
good  white  shellac,  and  place  it  in  a  large  wide-mouth  bottle,  in  which 
there  has  been  placed  two  quarts  of  the  best  alcohol.  If  you  are  in 
a  hurry  for  this  varnish,  you  should,  previous  to  placing  it  in  the 
bottle,  break  up  the  shellac  in  small  pieces,  placing  it,  say  in  a  clean 
rag,  and  pounding  it  with  a  hammer,  or  break  it  in  a  mortar  with  a 
pestle.  Shake  the  bottle  until  the  shellac  is  dissolved,  and  if  you 
should  see  a  sediment  on  the  bottom  that  will  not  dissolve,  you 
need  not  be  apprehensive  of  bad  results,  because  it  does  not  all  dis- 
solve, for  this-  is  only  the  impurities  in  the  shellac,  and  can  be  filtered 
out. 

As  the  beginner  can  probably  flow  better  from  a  small  bottle  than 
he  can  from  a  large  one,  I  should  advise  the  use  of  a  common  collo- 
dion vial,  which  will  hold  about  six  ounces,  and  which  should  be 
cleaned  thoroughly  both  on  the  outside  and  inside.  Into  this  vial, 
iilter  through  a  couple  of  filtering-papers  sufficient  of  the  varnish 
to  fill  it  up,  and  you  will  find  the  liquid  to  be  of  a  pale  golden  color. 

In  selecting  the  bottle,  choose  one  that  has  a  good  lip  to  it,  so  that 
when  you  varnish  the  plate  jou  can  do  so  without  "  daubing  up  " 
the  bottle. 

Keep  the  outside  of  your  bottle  perfectly  free  from  varnish,  and 
try  to  keep  your  varnish-bottle  clean,  so  that  it  will  look  well,  and 
always  keep  it  covered  when  not  in  use,  by  laying  a  piece  of  glass 
over  it,  or  better  still,  a  ground-glass  stopper  if  the  bottle  has  a  neck 
made  for  it,  but  do  not  stop  up  the  bottle  with  a  cork,  as  it  will  in  a 
short  time  leave  bits  of  it  in  the  varnish.  Use  a  comeiless  collodion 
vial  if  you  can. 

When  about  to  varnish,  hold  the  plate  for  a  second  or  so  near  the 
fire,  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  take  the  chill  from'  the  plate,  which 
you  can  do  without  really  warming  it,  for  if  you  were  to  do  that, 
the  varnishing,  as  before  said,  would  remove  the  tinting  of  the  por- 

*  This  varnish  can  very  nicely  be  used  in  the  varnishing  of  intense  negatives. 


VARNISHING   THE   PORCELAIN.  187 

celain,  but  if  it  were  only  kept  near  enough  to  the  stove  to  prevent 
the  plate  from  being  so  cold  as  to  chill  the  varnish  the  moment  it  is 
poured  on,  it  will  not  then  remove  the  tinting  at  all. 

Avoid  getting;  the  plate  hot  before  you  varnish  it,  for  you  will 
almost  inevitably  make  a  "botch  "  of  it,  unless  you  have  had  years 
of  experience  in  varnishing.  The  varnish,  at  this  time,  will  also 
totally  remove  the  tinting  and  coloring  of  the  hair,  although  it  will 
not  affect  the  spotting,  <&c. 

Before  you  commence  to  varnish,  shut  the  oven  door  and  turn  up 
the  gas  flame,  thus  allowing  the  oven  to  heat  up  while  you  are  flow- 
ing the  plate,  so  that  you  can  place  the  plate  in  it,  and  dry  it  quickly, 
which  will  prevent  the  varnish  from  chilling  on  the  plate,  before  you 
have  obtained  heat  enough  to  dry  it.  Pour  the  varnish  on  the  plate 
in  the  same  manner  as  I  have  twice  before  described,  once  in  the 
albumenizing,  and  the  other  in  the  collodionizing.  Pour  the  varnish 
back  from  the  plate  into  another  bottle,  and  before  using  it  again 
always  filter  it. 

Pour  on  the  varnish  so  that  you  can  permit  it  to  run  oif  that 
corner  which  is  furthest  away  from  the  print,  because  the  varnish 
forms  a  slight  ridge  on  the  two  sides,  whose  vertex  is  that  corner 
from  which  your  varnish  was  poured  from  the  plate. 

Place  the  freshly  varnished  plate  in  the  hot  oven,  resting  it  on  one 
corner,  and  that  corner  invariably  the  one  at  which  the  varnish  was 
poured  off. 

Too  much  varnish  on  the  plate  will  cause  a  much  larger  ridge  on 
the  sides  than  if  there  was  only  about  the  right  quantity  poured  on 
it  in  the  first  place,  unless  you  are  very  careful  in  pouring  it  from 
the  plate. 

Wipe  out  the  oven  every  time  you  are  about  ready  to  varnish  a 
plate,  and  just  as  soon  as  the  plate  is  dry,  remove  it,  and  place  it  in 
a  cool  (not  too  cool]  place,  which  place  should  be  perfectly  free  from 
all  traces  of  dust. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CAUSES  OF  FAILURES  IN  PORCELAIN  PRINTING. 
MANIPULATION. 

PROPER  manipulation  is  the  great  secret  of  success  in  photog- 
raphy, and  without  it  we  cannot  hope  to  succeed. 

What  is  it  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of  successful  manipulation  V 
It  is  care  !  and  as  we  are  proportionally  careful  in  manipulating, 
so  shall  our  success  be. 


188  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

The  beginner  is  very  apt,  unless  he  is  continually  on  his  guard,  to 
get  careless  in  his  manipulation,  and  in  hopes  to  benefit  such  a  one, 
I  will  here  give  a  brief  notice,  wherein  the  careful  man  succeeds  far 
better  than  a  careless  one. 

I  have  known  a  careless  toner,  when  toning  a  porcelain,  to  drop  a 
couple  of  drops  or  so  of  the  chloride  of  gold  solution  into  the  dish 
where  the  porcelain  was  toning,  and  instead  of  placing  it  in  a  corner 
of  the  dish  away  from  any  part  of  the  plate,  what  worse  thing  could 
he  do  than  to  drop  it  in  the  middle  of  the  dish,  where,  before  he 
could  stop  it  toning  more  rapidly  at  that  place,  by  repeated  shakings 
of  the  dish,  it  had  toned  a  place  full  an  inch  in  diameter  before  it 
had  got  so  mixed  with  the  rest  of  the  solution,  that  it  would  not  tone 
so  rapidly,  and  the  bright  (?)  toner  would  have  a  chance  to  shake 
the  contents  of  his  dish  well  ?  But  it  was  too  late  ;  the  toning  of  the 
porcelain  print  needs  to  be  carried  no  further. 

A  careful  man  would  have  taken  the  porcelain  print  out  of  the 
dish  before  he  added  the  gold,  and  when  it  was  well  mixed,  he 
would  have  placed  it  back  again. 

A  careless  man  would  not  have  taken  measures  to  prevent  dust 
from  settling  on  his  plate  either  during  the  albumenizing,  collodion- 
izing,  or  the  varnishing  of  the  porcelain  plate,  which  a  careful  one 
would  certainly  have  done,  and  can  he  hope  that  his  results  would 
have  been  as  fine  as  his  competitors  ? 

Such  is  a  little  of  the  vast  difference  between  a  careful  and  a 
careless  manipulator,  and  still  the  latter  will  continue  to  say,  and 

often  really  to  believe,  that  the  reason  why  Mr. does  better 

work  than  what  he  does,  is  on  account  of  some  secret  formulse,  &c. , 
&c. 

Reader,  you  and  I  know  better. 

THE  PLATES. 

It  is  sometimes  a  most  difficult  thing  to  obtain  good  plates,  on 
account  of  the  unevenness  of  the  glass,  it  often  being  so  wavy  as  to 
render  it  useless  for  good  work. 

Then  again  the  plates  sometimes  have  a  rough  surface,  and  are 
so  frail  that  you  are  continually  expecting  them  to  break. 

When  the  photographer  does  not  have  any  glass  on  hand,  except 
this  poor  quality,  he  is  obliged  to  use  that,  until  he  can  obtain 
some  better.  I  use  the  poor  glass  up  in  printing  the  beautiful  imi- 
tation porcelain,  viz.,  "  Lamson's  Photo.  Porcelain."* 

*  I  do  not  wish  my  readers  to  think  that  the  above  is  an  advertisement  for  the  sale  of 
the  "  Photo.  Porcelain,"  for  that  is  not  so. 


CAUSES   OF   FAILURES   IN   PORCELAIN   PRINTING.      189 


CLEANING  OF  THE  PLATES. 

There  will  be  no  difficulty  at  all  in  getting  the  plates  thoroughly 
cleaned,  if  the  advice  is  followed  strictly  out  which  has  been  given 
in  Chapter  II. 

ALBUMENIZING. 

The  film  peeling  off  during  the  subsequent  operations  of  the 
plate  after  it  is  printed,  is  due  to  the  albumen  solution  being  too 
thin,  or  the  plate  not  being  wholly  covered  by  the  albumen  during 
the  albumenizing.  Eoughen  the  edges  of  the  plates  before  albu- 
menizing,  by  scraping  them  together,  and  flow  with  thick  albumen. 

Dirty  plates  are  caused,  either  by  using  plates  before  they  are 
thoroughly  clean,  or  by  dirt  in  the  albumen  solution  caused  by  im- 
perfect nitration,  or  by  dust  settling  on  them  before  they  had  dried, 
all  of  which  will  cause  plates  to  be  more  or  less  dirty. 

• 
COLLODIO-CHLORIDE  . 

This  is  a  very  delicate  collodion,  and  it  should  always  be  made 
and  kept  in  the  dark-room. 

If  the  prints  are  blue  and  slaty  in  color,  and  you  are  sure  that 
it  is  not  caused  by  overfuming,  doubtless  it  is  caused  by  the  col- 
lodion, and  in  that  case,  it  is  because  there  is  not  enough  citric 
acid  in  the  solution,  for  this  is  what  gives  the  tone  to  the  printing- 
porcelain. 

If  the  collodion  prints  flat,  the  chloride  of  silver  in  it  is  too  weak, 
and  you  should  make  up  another  batch,  containing  a  grain  or  so 
more  of  silver  to  each  ounce  of  solution  than  what  there  may  have 
been  in  the  cast-away  collodion. 

Chloride  of  calcium  in  the  proportion  of  3.75  minims  of  the  cal- 
cium solution  (see  Solution  C,  Chapter  IV,  Part  III),  is  added  to 
every  grain  of  nitrate  of  silver  there  may  have  been  placed  in  the 
collodion. 

The  beginner  must  remember  that  a  minim  is  the  same  as  an  or- 
dinary size  drop,  and  in  a  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver  480  grains, 
and  pure  water  480  minims  (one  ounce),  the  silver  is  one  grain 
strong  to  every  minim  of  solution. 

For  the  purpose  of  measuring  out  drops  there  is  in  the  market  a 
tiny  graduate,  which  holds  just  one  drachm.  This  graduate  has 
the  scale  marked  in  minims,  and  thus  if  we  wished  to  measure  out 
60  drops  of  a  solution,  all  that  we  would  have  to  do,  is  to  fill  the 
graduate  up  to  the  place  marked  60  minims  (which  is  one  drachm), 
and  besides  being  more  sure  in  obtaining  the  exact  quantity  we 


190  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

wished,  it  is  not  near  so  tedious  as  it  would  be  to  drop  the  required 
number  one  by  one  from  the  bottle. 

Suppose  we  were  to  make  up  a  bottle  of  collodio(n)-chloride  which 
should  just  contain  four  ounces  of  plain  collodion,  and  we  were  to 
add  32  drops  of  the  silver  solution  named  above.  There  would  then 
be  32  grains  of  silver  in  the  4  ounces  of  plain  collodion,  which  by 
the  way  is  equal  to  8  grains  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  each  separate 
ounce  of  collodion.  Now  when  we  are  about  to  add  the  chloride  of 
calcium  solution  to  the  rest  of  it,  we  should  add  3.75  minims  to 
every  grain 'of  silver  there  was  added  to  the  collodion,  which  in  this 
case  was  32  grains,  and  3.75  minims  X  32  grains  =  120  minims, 
which  is  one-quarter  of  an  ounce. 

As  a  rule  add  of  the  citric  acid,  in  the  same  quantity  as  you  do 
the  chloride  of  calcium,  and  the  proportion  would  then  be  the  same, 
providing  the  solutions  are  each  32  grains  to  the  ounce  of  95  per 
cent,  alcohol. 

If  you  were  to  make  up  a  batch  of  six  ounces  of  collodion,  and  as 
in  the  above  case  you  would  wish  to  make  it  8  grains  strong  of 
silver  to  the  ounce  of  collodion,  you  would  then  fill  up  the  tiny 
graduate  to  the  place  which  should  indicate  48  drops. 

In  adding  the  chloride  of  calcium  and  the  citric  acid  to  the  collo- 
dion, you  should  add  of  both  3.75  minims  x  48  grains,  which  is 
180  minims. 

The  apprentice  will  readily  see  by  the  perusal  of  the  above,  that 
he  can  make  up  a  rule  for  the  successful  making  of  the  collodio- 
chloride,  providing  in  the  case  of  the  chloride  and  the  citric  acid,  he 
were  to  make  up  a  stock  solution  of  each  of  these  in  the  proportion, 
as  has  been  before  said,  of  32  grains  to  the  ounce  of  alcohol. 

Thick  collodion  is  caused  by  having  used  plain  collodion  which 
contained  too  much  cotton,  or  by  having  left  for  a  time  the  bottle  of 
collodio-chloride  uncorked. 

Dirty  collodion  is  caused  by  not  having  the  bottle  clean  in  which 
it  was  made,  and  then  again  by  the  use  of  dirty  solutions,  which 
have  been  used  in  the  making  of  it.  The  chloride  of  calcium  solu- 
tion, if  made  in  a  small  quantity,  cannot  be  decanted,  and  will  often 
have  to  be  filtered  before  use.  The  dirt  in  the  collodio-chloride  so- 
lution rises  to  the  top,  and  by  pouring  off  the  top  of  it,  you  can  ob- 
tain clean  collodion  for  use  whenever  you  need  it,  although  it  had 
best  be  poured  off  immediately  before  you  want  it  to  use. 

Yellow  collodion  is  caused  by  age  and  heat,  and  occurs  far  more 
quickly  during  the  heat  of  summer  than  what  it  does  in  the  winter. 
This  occurs  more  readily  in  collodion  which  is  highly  sensitized. 

It  would  be  a  good  plan  to  make  up  differently  sensitized  batches 


CAUSES   OF   FAILURES   IN   PORCELAIN   PRINTING.       191 

of  collodion,  each  of  which  should  be  plainly  labelled  as  to  the  exact 
number  of  grains  there  is  to  each  ounce  of  solution  at  the  time  of 
making  it,  so  that  when  you  are  about  to  print  a  harsh  or  a  flat 
negative,  you  can  flow  your  plate  with  that  collodion  which  is  best 
fit  for  that  particular  negative,  and  the  results  will  be  better. 

Yellowness  of  the  film  after  drying  is  caused  either  by  the  plate 
being  subjected  to  intense  heat  during  drying,  or  by  exposure  to  the 
light  before  toning. 

PRINTING. 

Double  features  are  caused  by  the  moving  of  the  negative  during 
printing ;  blurred  prints  by  imperfect  contact  between  the  plate 
and  negative  ;  scratches  by  carelessness  ;  harsh  shadows  by  the  neg- 
ative not  being  "doctored  "  before  printing  as  it  ought  to  be  :  be- 
sides many  other  things  which  are  called  failures  in  this  department. 

WASHING. 

Stains  and  scratches  are  caused  by  accidents  (?)  during  the  wash- 
ing. 

TONING. 

Refusing  to  Tone. — This  is  caused  by  there  not  being  enough  gold 
in  the  solution ;  or  the  solution  being  too  acid  through  neglect  of 
placing  sufficient  bicarbonate  of  soda  in  it ;  and  if  this  refusing  to 
tone  is  accompanied  by  considerable  bleaching,  then  the  solution  is 
surely  acid,  or  it  is  not  thoroughly  ripe  before  it  is  used. 

Uneven  Toning. — This  has  a  very  bad  look,  on  account  of  there 
being  a  variety  of  hues,  stains,  &c.,  often  abounding  in  the  print. 
This  is  caused  by  careless  manipulation,  and  occurs  more  in  the 
case  of  the  beginner  while  "toning  by  hand  "  than  in  any  other 
way. 

FIXING. 

Insufficient  fixing  will  cause  the  plates  to  discolor  quite  rapidly 
after  they  are  finished. 

Sometimes  when  a  porcelain  print  is  placed  in  the  fixing  bath,  it 
will  immediately  turn  a  very  disagreeable-looking  tone,  and  stay 
that  tone  in  spite  of  your  efforts  towards  bringing  it  back  to  its 
proper  color.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this  :  first,  the  collo- 
dion may  be  too  new ;  secondly,  the  hypo  solution  may  be  old ; 
thirdly,  the  soda  solution  may  be  acid  ;  and  fourthly,  the  collodion 
may  be  too  old  :  all  of  which  will  give  the  same  result. 

If  the  collodion  is  either  too  new  or  old,  it  is  certain  to  show  it 
in  the  fixing  bath,  in  the  former  case  turning  green  in  color,  and 


192  THE   PRACTICAL   PRINTER. 

in  the  latter,  an  ugly  yellow  tinge  will  be  plainly  visible  to  the  fixed 
print.  As  to  the  hypo  solution,  never  fix  a  plate  in  a  bath  that  has 
ever  had  a  single  plate  fixed  in  it — especially  if  the  bath  is  more 
than  a  day  old — and  do  not  use  a  bath  of  hypo  which  is  ice-cold, 
and  just  made  up,  but  have  it  as  warm  as  common  rain-water  is 
in  the  summer  when  pumped  from  the  cistern,  and  allow  the  bath 
to  be  an  hour  or  so  old  before  use,  as  better  results  are  obtained. 
Try  it. 

Keep  the  hypo  bath  always  in  the  dark,  more  especially  so  after  any 
plates  have  been  fixed  in  it. 

FINAL  WASHING. 

Insufficient  washing  will  cause  the  plate  to  turn  yellow  in  a  short 
time  after  it  is  dried,  and  the  picture  will  gradually  bleach  and  fade, 
and  within  a  year's  time,  the  tone  will  be  most  disagreeable. 

If  the  porcelain  changes  color  during  this  washing,  then  the  col- 
lodion is  too  new,  and  sometimes  the  water  is  impure,  and  to  deter- 
mine as  to  whether  the  latter  is  the  cause,  use  a  little  distilled  water 
for  the  first  washing. 

FADING  OF  THE  PORCELAINS. 

This  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  due  to  the  porcelain  plate  itself, 
and  is  owing  to  the  substance  which  is  used  in  the  bleaching  of  the 
coloring  matter  in  the  plate  being  left  in  the  plate,  and  which  thus 
affects  the  print,  destroying  it  in  many  cases  as  completely  as  it 
would  be  destroyed  if  the  hypo  was  not  well  and  thoroughly  washed 
from  it. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  some  photographers  will  never  make 
porcelains  for  their  customers,  without  first  telling  them  that  they 
will  not  warrant  them  to  last  longer  than  a  given  specified  time. 

There  are  good  plates,  however,  as  well  as  poor  ones,  and  I  have 
very  often  known  porcelains  to  keep  for  two  to  three  years  in  good 
condition,  and  look  then  as  though  they  were  good  for  full  as 
many  more. 

The  fading  is  not  wholly  in  the  plate,  however,  for  it  is  often  in 
the  fixing  and  final  washing  of  it  that  they  sometimes  fade,  on  .ac- 
count of  poor  manipulation,  besides  various  local  causes  which  are 
impossible  things  to  mention  here,  as  there  are  different  causes  in 
every  gallery.  Always  do  your  work  as  well  as  possible,  and  in 
ninety  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  the  porcelain  will  keep  in  excellent 
condition  for  many  years. 


LANTERN  SLIDES; 


AND 

MAGIC  LANTERNS  i 

OF  THE  BEST  QUALITY. 

4000  LANTERN  SLIDES 

Photographers  and  others  can  now  have  an  opportunity  to  make  selections  from  them  at 
very  low  prices. 

ANY  ENTERPRISING  PERSON 

Can  make  money  by  giving  exhibitions  to  the  public. 

HOW  IT  IS  DONE. 

Local  Secretary  HESLER,  who  has  just  purchased  a  lot  of  these  elegant  slides  from  us, 
sends  the  following : 

EVANSTON,  ILL.,  June,  1874. 

DEAR  SIRS  : — The  transparencies  you  sent  are  duly  at  hand.  I  must  say  I  am  happily 
disappointed  in  them.  Their  beauty  of  selection  and  perfection  of  execution  are  really  mar- 
vellous. I  have  shown  them  to  several  gentlemen  who  have  traveled  over  these  countries, 
viz. :  France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Egypt,  and  the  Holy  Land,  and  all  say  that  they  really 
get  more  satisfaction  in  studying  and  viewing  these  pictures,  as  I  show  them  with  Marcy's 
Sciopticon,  than  they  get  in  traveling  over  the  same  countries.  I  wonder  that  more  pho- 
tographers do  not  possess  themselves  of  a  Marcy's  Sciopticon,  for  with  these  views  they 
can  fill  in  very  profitable  evenings.  I  do  it  thusly :  Having  the  pictures  and  lantern 
(Marcy's,  which  I  believe  is  the  best  in  use),  let  the  people  know  you  have  them,  and  will 
give  Parlor  Exhibitions  at  any  person's  house  who  wishes  to  entertain  friends.  For  this 
purpose  you  want  some  few  comics ;  most  of  these  you  can  easily  make  of  a  local  character. 
Make  a  few  transparencies  of  the  babies  crying  and  laughing,  leading  men,  and  host  and 
hostess  if  possible.  Have  enough  home  and  foreign  vi«ws,  that  you  need  not  always  show 
the  same  things.  For  such  an  entertainment  you  can  get  from  $10  to  $20  per  night ;  and 
this  not  only  pays  you  but  advertises  you  in  the  best  possible  manner.  Try  it !  you  who 
can  command  your  evenings,  and,  my  word  for  it,  you  will  find  it  to  pay  you. 

A.  HESLER. 

This  shows  what  any  one  else  may  do  with  a  good  lantern  and  an  assortment  of  slides. 

A  MARCY'S  SCIOPTICON,  or  MCALLISTER'S  ARTOPTICON, 

\M>  ONE  HUNDRED  SLIDES, 

Can  be  carried  in  your  hand.    We  have  them  ready  for  delivery.    Send  for  Catalogues. 

BENERMAN  &  WILSON, 

Cor.  Seventh  and  Cherry  Streets,  Philadelphia. 

14  193 


BENJ.  FRENCH  &  CO.,  J 

159  WASHINGTON    ST.,  BOSTON, 

IMPORTERS   AND   SOLE   AGENTS    FOR   THE    CELEBRATED 


IEW  STEREOSCOPIC  LENSES. 

New  Stereoscopic  Tube  and  Lens,  made  expressly  for  us,  marked  with  our  name  (imita- 
tion Dallmeyer),  with  rack  and  pinion,  central  stops,  for  portraits  or  views.  Will  work  in 
or  out  of  doors.  Also,  for  instantaneous  pictures.  Four  inch  focus,  price  per  pair, 
$32.00.  By  taking  out"  back  lens,  and  using  only  front  lens  in  place  of  back,  you  get 
six  inch  focus.  The  great  and  increasing  demand  for  all  these  lenses,  is  sure  guaran- 
tee that  they  are  the  best.  Read  the  following 

Testimonials. 

"  I  have  tried  the  Mammoth  Voigtlander  you  sent  me,  and  I  consider  it  the  best  large  in- 
strument I  have  ever  seen,  aud  I  have  tried  those  made  by  other  makers,  Dallmeyer's  in- 
cluded, and  they  do  not  compare  with  the  Voigtlander.  All  my  baby  pictures  were  made 
with  half-size  Voigtlander  lenses."—  J.  LANDY,  208  W.  Fourth  St.,  Cincinnati,  Feb.  25,  1874. 

"  The  Voigtlander  lenses  have  always  been  favorites  with  me.  My  first  experience,  in  the 
days  of  daguerreotype,  was  with  one,  since  which  I  have  owned  and  tried  many  of  the  differ- 
ent sizes  and  never  saw  one  but  was  an  excellent  instrument  Lately  again  trying  some  for 
my  own  use  and  for  a  friend,  I  found  them  to  be  superior  to  other  eminent  makers,  particu- 
larly in  the  large  sizes."—  W.  J.  BAKER,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

"  Twenty-four  years  ago  I  bought  and  commenced  using  my  first  Voigtlander  lens.  It  was 
a  good  one.  Since  then  1  have  owned  and  used  a  good  many  of  the  same  brand,  of  various 
sizes.  They  were  all  and  always  good.  Some  of  the  larger  sizes  that  I  have  recently  bought 
seem  to  me  better  than  any  I  have  ever  had  or  seen  before."—  J.  F.  RYDER,  Cleveland.  Ohio. 
Dec.  18,  1872. 

•'  About  a  year  ago  I  bought  a  Voigtlander  &  Son  No.  3  4-4  size  lens.  Said  instrument  gives 
me  great  satisfaction,  being  very  quick,  at  the  same  time  has  great  depth  of  focus."—  E.  G. 
MAINE,  Columbus,  Miss. 

"  Have  never  seen  anything  equal  to  the  Voigtlander  &  Son  Lens.  The  No.  5,  Ex.  4-4  is 
the  best  instrument  I  ever  used.  I  cannot  keep  house  without  it."—  D.  B.  VICKERY,  Haver- 
hill,  Mass. 

"  The  pair  of  imitation  Dallmeyer  Stereoscopic  Lenses  you  sent  we  are  very  much  pleased 
with  ;  they  work  finely."—  GOODRIDGE  BROS.,  East  Saginaw,  Mich. 

"After  a  trial  of  your  imitation  Dallmeyer  in  the  field  with  those  of  the  Dallmeyer  Rapid 
Rectilinear,  side  by  side,  I  can  say  that  for  general  views  I  like  yours  as  well,  for  some  ob- 
jects far  better,  on  account  of  their  short  focal  length."—  D.  H.  CROSS,  Mosher's  Gal.,  Chicago 
194 


Dealers  in 

everything  that 

can  contribute  to 

SUCCESSFUL 

and 

CONVENIENT 

PHO  TO  GRAPHIC 

Manipulation. 


*v?.M«fe 


% 


& 

<%>< 


Also, 

publishers  of 
Stereoscopic  Views, 

the 
Silver  Sunbeam, 

and 

ANTHONY'S 
PHOTOGRAPHIC 

BULLETIN. 
Send  for  a  copy. 


s,  lounges, 


E.  &  H.  T.  ANTHONY  &  CO 

PHOTOGRAPHIC  MATERIALS 


CHROMOS, 

BROADWAY, 


Opposite  Metropolitan  Hotel,  New  York. 


IMPORTERS  OF 

Swiss  Fink,  Dresden  Albumen,  and 
Plain  Saxe  and  Rives  Papers  ;  Porce- 
lain Ware,  Evaporating  Dishes,  Gen- 
uine B.  P.  C.  Glass,  Gold  Saucers, 
Filtering  Paper.  Also,  Pyrogallic 
Acid,  Hypo.  Soda,  German  Glass 
Baths,  Stereoscopic  Views,  as  well  as 

LAEGE  PHOTOGKAPES 
AND  OEEOMOS, 


STEREOSCOPES  AND  ALBUMS. 

GEAPHOSCOPES. 


SCOYILL  MANUFACTURING  Co., 

Manufacturers,  Importers  of,  and  Dealers  in 

Photographic  Goods 

OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION, 

419  &  421  Broome  St.,  New  York, 


PROPRIETORS   OF 


AMERICAN  OPTICAL  CO.'S  APPARATUS. 


TRADE   AGENTS   FOR 

SAMUEL  PECK  &  Co.'s  APPARATUS, 

UNION  CASES,  FRAMES,  AND  TRAYS, 

WOODWARD'S  SOLAR  CAMERA,  DIRECT  AND  KEFLECTING, 
MOULTON'S  EAPID  PHOTO- WASHER, 

JACOBY'S  IMPROVED  COMBINATION  PRINTING-FRAME, 
BIGELOW'S  KEVOLVING  BACKGROUNDS, 

BIGELOW'S  PLAIN,  OIL-PAINTED  BACKGROUNDS, 
BIRD'S  PATENT  HEAD-SCREEN, 
PHENIX  FERROTYPE  PLATES, 

PHENIX  PLATE  00,'S  FEEEOTYPE  COLLODION  and  VAENISH, 

Put  up  in  8  oz.  patent  Dreg  bottle,  50  cents  each. 


Dealers  supplied  on  the  most  advantageous  terms  with  every  article  in 
the  world  used  or  sold  in  the  art  of  Photography. 


"PHOTOGRAPHIC  TIMES." 

196 


CO 

Improved  Combination 


NTING-fRAME 


PATENTED  OCTOBER  14,  1873. 


REDUCED  PRICE  LIST. 

1-4  plate,  each $3  00 


1-2 

5x7 


8x10 
10x12 
11x14 
14x17 


3  50 

3  75 

4  25 

4  75 

5  50 

6  25 

7  50 


TESTIMONIAL : 

FRIEND  JACOBY  :  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  February  28th,  1874. 

The  trial  I  have  had  of  your  Porcelain  Printing-Frames  pleases  me  very  much. 
With  a  little  care  and  practice  I  feel  sure  they  can  but  be  a  great  aid  to  every  one 
engaged  in  the  art,  and  no  gallery  can  be  considered  complete  without  them.  For 
hard,  rough  faces,  and  in  cases  of  poor  retouching,  they  are  of  great  value  to  all 
who  take  pride  in  turning  out  good  work.  Wishing  you  the  success  your  invention 
deserves,  I  am,  truly  yoursy  A.  HESLER. 


Manufactured  by  SAMUEL  PECK  &  CO.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

FOR  SALE  BY 

SCOVILL  MANUFACTURING  CO., 

419  &  421  Broome  St.,  New  York, 

And   by   all    Photographic   Stock- Dealers   throughout    the 
United  States  and  Canadas. 

-197 


.Established  1865. 


Wilson,  Hood  &  Co. 
3m  PHOTOGRAPHIC  aCt 


FRAMIES 


STEREOSCOPES  AND  VIEWS, 

822  ARCH  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
SPECIALTIES  FOR  PHOTO.  PRINTERS. 


AMERICAN  OPTICAL  COMPANY'S  IMPROVED 
PRINTING-FRAME, 

MANUFACTURED  OF  CHERRY,  WITH    BRASS    SPRINGS  AND    PANELLED    BACKS. 
For  Plates, 


4x7 

4x8 
5x7 

5x8 


at.  Deep. 
60  $0  80 

60  80 
65  90 
70  1  00 

For  Plates, 

8x10  . 
10x12  . 
11x14  . 
13x16 

Flat.       Deep. 

.     .     .     .  $0  90  $1  25 
.     ....     1  25     1  50 
,     ....     2  25    2  75 
3  00     3  50 

70  1  00 
75  1  10 

14x17  . 
16x20 

3  75 

6  00 

75  1  It) 
75  1  10 

17x21   . 
20x24  . 

6  25 

•6  75 

On  orders  for  six,  a  discount  of  10  per  cent,  will  be  allowed. 

On  orders  for  twelve  or  more,  a  discount  of  15  per  cent,  will  be  allowed. 

Larger  or  special  sizes  made  to  order. 

Platt's  Printing  Frames,  1-4  size,  each, $0  50 

Vignetting  for  the  same,  each, .'*.  \ 15 

198 


THE  AMERICAN  RETOUCHING-FRAME. 

(INTRODUCED  BY  US.) 
WE    MANUFACTURE    TWO    SIZES,    WITH    DRAWERS    FOR   PENCILS,    ETC. 

For  all  sized  plates  up  to    8  x  10, $5  00 

"          "         "         "      11x14, 10  00 

JACOBY'S  IMPROVED  COMBINATION 
PRINTING-FRAME. 

Patented  Oct.  14, 1873. 


\  plate,  each, $3  00 

\       "         "      ......     3  50 

5x7    plate,  each,  ....     3  75 

6x8  "  •     ...     4  25 


8x10  plate,  each,  .     .     .     .$475 

10x12  "  5  50 

11x14            "  ....     6  25 

14x17           "  7  50 


BENDANN'S  BACKGROUND  NEGATIVES. 

8x10  size,  each,     .     .     .     .     $3  50  |  11  x  14  size,  each,     .     .     .     .     $5  00 

GIHON'S  OPAQUE. 

For  painting  out  negatives,  per  cake, $0  50 

Gihon'8  Cut- Outs,  per  pack, 1  00 

Waymouth's  Vignette  Papers,  per  pack, 1  00 

Robinson's  Trimmers, 3  50 

Lochman's  Porcelain  Printing- Frame, 5  00 

Burgess  &  Lenzi's  Print- Cutters, 21  50 

Metal  Guides,  all  sizes  and  shapes.     Negative  Boxes  a"hd  Envelopes. 

BERGNER'S  PATENT  PRINT-CUTTER. 

Card  size, $30  00  I  Cabinet  size, $35  00 

Stereo.    " 30  00  I  Whole       "      .    - 30  00 

Artistic  Stereo,  size,     ...     $33  00 

Made  only  to  order  (except  the  whole  size),  so  can  be  made  any  desired 
size  or  shape.  When  ordering  send  piece  of  paper  exact  size  and  shape  you 
wish  Cutter  to  cut  print.  Card  and  Cabinet  sizes  have  foot  lever ;  all  others 
work  by  hand. 

ALBUMEN  PAPER  (all  makes), 

AT    LOW    PRICES. 

FULL  PRICE  LISTS  SENT  FKEE  TO  ANY  APPLICANT. 

WILSON,  HOOD  &  CO., 

SOLE    AGENTS    FOR   THE 

,OSSI*E^TEINHEIL  MENSES, 

199 


ALL  FANCY  GROUNDS  DISPENSED  WITH  ! 

ONE  PLAIN  GROUND 

Will  produce  ANY  NUMBER  of  effects. 


ANY  NUMBEE  OF  ENTIKELY  DIFFEKENT   SCENES  CAN  BE 
PEODUCED  FEOM  THE  SAME  NEGATIVE  WITH 

CERTAINTY,  EASE, 

v          AND  EXPEDITION. 

SPOTS,  STEEAKS,  OE  STAINS   DO   NOT   IMPAIE  THE  VALUE 

OF  A  NEGATIVE,  THEY  ENTIRELY  DISAPPEAE 

BY  THE  USE  OF 


END  ANN' 

fell'     PATENT 

ACKGROUND 


PRICES : 
8  x  10,  $3.50.      11  x  14,  $5.00.      17  x  20,  $7.50. 


FOR    SALE    BY    ALL    STOCKDEALERS. 


DANIEL  BENDANN, 

Baltimore,  Md. 


200 


To  give  a  fillip  to  business  these  dull 
times,  you  must  bring  out  novelties,  and 
improve  your  work.  None  of  the  late  in- 
ventions approach  in 

BEAUTY,  SIMPLICITY, 

EASE  AND  CHEAPNESS, 


PATENT 


THE  OUTLAY  IS  TRIFLING, 

ITS  APPLICATION  EASY  AND  PROMPT, 

AND  THE  RESULT  PAYS. 

IF  YOU  ONCE  TRY  THEM, 

YOU  CANNOT  BE  WITHOUT  THEM. 

See  the  Chapter  on  Bendann's  Backgrounds  in  this  book. 


FOR    SALE    BY    ALL    STOCKDEALERS. 


SIMPLE  INSTRUCTIONS  GO  WITH  EVERY  NEGATIVE. 

15  201 


HAVE  YOU  TRIED  THE 


S.  and  M.  DRESDEN 


PAPER  ? 

OR 

THE  EXTRA  BRILLIANT 

STEINBACH  and  RIVES 

WHITE,  PINK,  and  BLUE? 

Those  who  have  used  it,  say  it  works  more  uniformly  than  any  other.    Also, 

HYPOSULPHATE  OF  SODA, 

SAXONY  EVAPORATING  DISHES, 

SOLID  GERMAN  GLASS  BA  THS, 

FRENCH  FILTER  PAPER,  $c.,  $c. 

C.  CENNERT,  Importer, 

**'t  53  MAIDEN  LANE,  N.  Y.  CITY. 

202 


MOTJLTON'S 

RAPID  PHOTO-WASHER. 


NEW  IN  PRINCIPLE.     QUICK  AND  RELIABLE 
IN  PRACTICE. 


Patented  August  12th,  1873. 

Instead  of  soaking  the  prints  it  applies  the  water  in  the  form  of  spray,  with  considerable 
force,  to  both  sides  of  the  paper  at  each  revolution,  or  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  times  per  minute.  Washes  with  exact  uniformity,  and  gives  more  brilliant  and  per- 
manent work ;  is  simple,  not  liable  to  get  out  of  order,  will  last  a  lifetime,  and  will  enable 
you  to  get  out  work  at  short  notice,  thereby  securing  many  orders  that  would  otherwise  be  lost. 

Size  Cylinder.  Capacity  in  Cards.       Largest  Print.  Price. 

Diam.,  16  in.,  length,  14£  inches,  .  .  84  ..  14x17  in.,  .  .$3000 

20   "         "        19        "  .  .  144  ..  18x22  «  .  .     40  00 

«        25   «         "        24        «  .  .  220  .     .  22x28  "  .  .     5000 
Larger  sizes  may  follow. 

SGOVILL  MFG.  CO.,  Trade  Agents, 
Testimonials. 

"  I  write  to  testify  to  the  satisfaction  I  feel  with  the  working  of  your  Rapid  Print  Washer. 
It  is  simply  perfection,  as  far  as  my  experience  with  it  goes,  viz. :  one  year's  constant  use. 
I  have  washed  eight  dozen  cartes  in  ten  minutes,  and  the  most  accurate  test  I  know  of,  starch 
and  iodine,  failed  to  show  a  trace  of  hypo,  remaining."— L.  G-.  BIQELOW,  Detroit,  Mich.,  Feb. 
10th, 1874. 

'"Time  saved  is  money  earned.'  The  above  maxim  is  as  true  in  the  photographic  busi- 
ness as  in  any  other,  and  in  this  connection  I  would  say,  that  Moulton's  Rapid  Photo- Washer 
will  save  more  time  in  any  weW-regulated  gallery,  than  any  mechanism  ever  yet  invented; 
besides  the  prints  finish  with  a  finer  lustre  than  those  washed  by  any  other  device  I  have 
ever  yet  seen.  Having  used  one  for  the  past  two  months,  washing  from  one  hundred  to 
three  hundred  prints  daily,  I  am  pleased  to  add  my  testimonial  to  its  excellence."— WM.  M. 
LOCKWOOK,  Bipon,  Wis.,  March  11, 1874. 

ANALYSIS  OF  PRINTS. 

"  After  analyzing  the  prints  which  were  washed  by  you  during  ten  minutes,  in  your  Eapid 
Photo- Washer,  and  those  furnished  by  an  artist  of  this  city,  washed  in  a  syphon  tank  in 
running  water  for  one  hour  and  left  in  the  water  over  night,  for  the  quantity  of  hypo- 
sulphites left  therein,  I  take  pleasure  in  stating  that  the  prints  treated  in  the  Rapid  Photo- 
Washer  contain  perceptibly  less  hyposulphites  than  those  washed  in  the  other  manner  de- 
scribed."— GUSTAVUS  BODE,  Analytical  Chemist,  and  Dealer  in  Photographic  Stock,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis.,  Feb.  21, 1874. 

L  V.  MOULTON,  Beaver  Dam,  Wis. 

203 


OSCILLATING  ENAMELER 

GIVES  AN  UNSURPASSED  FINISH  TO  PHOTOGRAPHIC  PRINTS. 
EVERY  MACHINE  WARRANTED  PERFECT. 


PRICE  LIST. 

Cabinet  Size,  6  inch  roll,  .   .  $25  00  I  10  x  12  size,  14  inch  roll,  .  .  $50  00 
4-4  "     10     "       "      .  .     40  00  I  14  x  17     "     18     "       «      .  .     75  00 

E  Oscillating  Enameler  is  constructed  on  scientific  principles,  and  in  the  opera- 
tion of  burnishing,  the  roll  and  burnisher  both  move,  giving  a  combined  action  on 
the  face  of  the  photograph,  and  producing  a  fine  finish  with  a  very  light  pressure, 
so  that  enameled  mounts  can  be  burnished  as  well  as  plain  mounts.  This  fact  alone  makes 
the  Enameler  superior  to  all  other  machines  for  burnishing  photographs.  The  reasons  toby 
it  is  the  best: — the  double  action  of  roll  and  burnisher  prevents  the  card  from  sticking  on  the 
burnisher;  it  also  prevents  the  burnisher  from  scratching  the  albumen  off  the  face  of  the 
picture  and  spoiling  it,  as  is  the  case  in  similar  machines.  The  oscillating  motion  of  the 
burnisher  feeds  the  card  and  keeps  the  burnisher  polished.  Equal  pressure  at  both  ends  of 
the  burnisher  is  another  great  advantage,  which  prevents  the  card  from  turning  while  in  the 
operation  of  burnishing,  as  is  the  case  in  other  machines.  The  mechanism  of  the  pressure 
is  certain  and  can  be  operated  in  an  instant  correctly.  The  removable  burnisher  is  another 
great  advantage,  giving  the  photographer  the  opportunity  of  having  several,  so  that  if  one 
becomes  injured  it  can  immediately  be  removed  and  replaced  with  another  one,  causing  no 
delay.  Each  machine  will  be  tested  before  being  shipped. 


PHOTOGRAPHERS!    TAKE  NOTICE! 

Whereas  certain  parties  are  advertising  that  they  will  prosecute  all  photographers  who  make  Bur- 
nished Photographs  on  other  than  their  primitive  machines,  you  are  hereby  notified  that  it  is  believed 
that  such  advertisements  are  intended  to  prevent  the  sale  of  ENTRKKIN'S  OSCILLATING  ENAMELEB. 
The  parties  thus  advertising  are  hereby  DARED  to  prosecute  any  one  using  my  Enameler,  or  the  in- 
ventor and  manufacturer  thereof. 

Entrekin's  Patent  Oscillating  Enameler  is  the  only  patent  Burnisher  in  existence  that  coven  the  princi- 
ple of  a  Burnishing  machine,  as  in  its  double  action  on  the  face  of  the  photograph,  it  breaks  lines,  and  produces 
a  burnish  which  cannot  be  obtained  on  any  other  machine  yet  invented,  as  all  other  so-called  Burnishers  are 
only  Polishing  presses,  and  not  Burnishers.  Burnish-finished  photographs  can  only  be  produced  on 
a  machine  constructed  on  the  principle  of  my  patent  Oscillating  Enameler.  Said  patent  is  valid,  and 
all  Photographers  can  use  my  Burnisher,  as  I  will  protect  all  in  its  use.  I  am  fully  prepared  to  meet  any 
parties  in  law,  or  in  any  other  way  they  may  think  proper,  as  I  shall  soon  claim  a  royalty  on  all  machines  using 
a  hinged  plate,  in  connection  with  a  friction  feed  roll.  All  such  presses  now  in  use  are  infringements  on  my 
patent,  and  I  am  contesting  that  point  in  the  United  States  Patent  Office. 

W.  G.  ENTREKIN, 

Inventor  and  Patentee  of  Entrekin's  Oscillating  Enameler 

SCOVILL  MANDF'G  CO..  419  &  421  Broome  SI,  N.  Y,  We  ApntS. 

204 


FOE  SUCCESSFUL  PHOTOGRAPHIC  PRINTING  USE 
NOTHING  BUT  THE  BEST. 

THE  "  GREAT  CENTRAL  "  PHOTOGRAPHIC  WAREHOUSE, 

158  State  St.,CMcago 


WILL  SUPPLY  YOU  WITH  FRESH  LOTS  OF  ALL  THE  STAND- 
ARD BRANDS  ALBUMEN  PAPER,  RIVES  AND  STEINBACH, 
WHITE  AND  PINK;  C.  P.  NITRATE  SILVER;  CRYST. 
LIQUID    AND  DRY   CHLORIDE  GOLD;  PURE 
CHLOR.  GOLD  AND  SODIUM  ;  ENGLISH 
HYPO.  SODA :  IN  FACT  EVERY- 
THING THAT  A  PHOTO. 
PRINTER  NEEDS, 

Of  guaranteed  purity  and  best  quality. 


I  KEEP  THE  LARGEST  STOCK  OF  PHOTOGRAPHIC 

APPARATUS  AND  PHOTOGRAPHER'S  GENERAL 

SUPPLIES  AND  HAKE  THE  LOWEST  PRICES. 

20* 


THE 


HILADELPHIA  PHOTOGRAPHER! 


Is  admitted  by  all  who  understand  such  things,  to  be 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE  PUBLISHED. 

IT  PUBLISHES 

A  Handsome  Specimen  Photograph  in  each  Issue, 
The  Latest  Photographic  News  from  Home  "Sources, 

Monthly  Letters  from  England,  Prance,  Germany,  and  Italy, 
Illustrations  on  Wood  of  all  sorts  of  Articles  used  in  the  Art, 
The  Earliest  Information  on  all  Matters  of  Use  to  its  Headers, 
Processes,  Formulas,  Wrinkles  and  Dodges,  without  number, 
Elaborate  Drawings  of  Skylights  in  all  Parts  of  the  World, 
Correspondence  from  all  Parts  of  the  World, 

AND 

EACH  MONTHLY  ISSUE  IS  A  PHOTOGRAPHIC  WORK  IN  ITSELF! 


Be  assured  no  Photographer  can  afford  to  do  without  it ! 


NOW  IN  ITS  ELEVENTH  YEAR  SAMPLE  COPIES  FKEE. 

Please  read  what  we  give  for  new  subscribers  on  page  3  of  the  cover  of  each  number. 


NOTICE.— Subscription  price,  $5.00  a  year,  $2.50  for  six  months,  50  cents  per  copy. 
Positively  in  advance.  In  remitting  by  mail  a  post-office  order,  or  draft  payable  to  the  order 
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The  attention  of  advertisers,  and  those  having  galleries,  &c.,  for  sale,  is  called  to  our  SPE- 
CIALTIES pages.  Terms  $2  for  six  lines,  and  25  cents  for  each  additional  line,  seven  words  to 
a  line,  always  in  advance.  Duplicate  insertions,  50  cents  less,  each.  Sure  to  pay. 

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BENERMAN  &  WILSON,  Publishers, 

Office,  S.  W.  cor.  Seventh  and  Cherry  Sts.,  Philadelphia. 
20« 


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PHOTOGRAPHIC  MOSAICS.—  The  1874  edition  excels  all  its  eight  older  brethren. 
The  list  of  articles  is  made  up  of  ORIGINAL  contributions,  written  especially  for  its  pages,  on 
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and  "  Shadow  "  styles.  It  is  accompanied  by  an  explanatory  key  of  instructions,  together 
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HOW  TO  PAINT  PHOTOGRAPHS  IN  WATER  COLORS.—  A  practical  Hand- 
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LOOKOUT  LANDSCAPE  PHOTOGRAPHY.—  By  Prof.  R.  M.  LINN,  Lookout 
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PHOTOGRAPHERS'  POCKET  REFERENCE-BOOK.^  JBy  DR.  H.  VOGEL,  of 
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A  splendid  and  indispensable  book. 

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It  will  also  be  found  of  invaluable  service  to  any  photographic  printer.be  he  ever  so  skilled. 
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ART   PUBLICATIONS. 

In  order  to  meet  the  thirst  now  happily  growing  so  rapidly  among  photographers,  for  knowledge  bearing 
upon  ART  PRINCIPLES  APPLICABLE  TO  PHOTOGRAPHY,  we  have  arranged 
with  the  various  publishers  of  art  works  for  the  sale  of  such  as  we  think  will  be  useful  to  photographers, 
and  will  be  glad  to  mail  copies  of  them  on  receipt  of  price,  as  follows  : 

ART   CULTURE.—  A  Hand-book  of  Art  Technicalities  and  Criticism,  selected  from  the 

works  of  JOHN  RUSKIN.    An  admirable  work,  giving  most  useful  hints  on  composition, 
E$?"  posing,  lighting,  backgrounds,  tone,  color,  lines,  unity,  variety,  harmony,  &c.,  &c.    485  pages, 

and  finely  illustrated.    Price,  $3.00. 
THE  STUDY  OF  ART.—  A  manual  of  short  paragraphs  on  all  the  leading  art  topics.    By 

M.  A.  DWIGHT.    278  pages.    Price,  $2.00. 
THE  OLD  MASTERS  AND  THEIR  PICTURES  —  By  SARAH  TYLER.    363  pages. 

Price,  $1.50. 
MODERN    PAINTERS    AND   THEIR    PAINTINGS.—  By  SARAH  TYLER.     360 

pages.    Price,  $1.50. 
THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ART.—  Containing  chapters  on  "  The  Relation  between  Photog- 

raphy and  Painting,"  "The  Artistic  Spirit,"  "The  Artistic  Observation  of  Nature,"  and 

many  other  useful  subjects,  by  that  delightful  author,  PHILIP  GILBERT  HAMERTON.    383 

pages.    Price,  $2.25. 
CHRISTIAN  ART  AND  SYMBOLISM.—  A  very  useful  book  with  the  others.    More 

advanced.    Illustrated.    292  pages.    Price,  $2.25. 
THE  LAOCOON.—  An  essay  upon  the  limits  of  painting  and  poetry,  with  remarks  illus- 

trative of  various  points  in  the  history  of  ancient  art.  By  G.  S.  LESSING.  245pp.  Price,  $1.75. 
ART  EDUCATION.—  A  very  elaborate  and  elegant  work.    By  WALTER  SMITH,  Superin- 

tendent of  Art  Education.  State  of  Massachusetts.    Price,  $5.00. 

Benerman  &  Wilson.  Photo.  Polishers,  Philada. 

207 


.  HffO  E3 

PHOTOGRAPHIC   SPECIALTIES 
Iffff 

ABE  SOLD  BY  ALL  DEALERS,  AS  FOLLOWS: 

Hance's  Double  Iodized  Collodion, 

Per  pound,  $1.50;  half-pound,  80  cents. 

Elbert  Anderson's  Portrait  Collodion, 

Per  pound,  $1.75;  half-pound,  90  cents. 

Hance's  White  Mountain  Collodion, 

Per  pound,  $1.50;  half-pound,  80  cents. 

Curtis9  Niagara  Falls  Collodion, 

Per  pound,  $1.50;  half-pound,  80  cents. 

Hance's  Peculiar  Portrait  Collodion, 

Per  pound,  $1.50;  half-pound,  80  cents. 

Trash's  Ferrotype  Collodion, 

Per  pound,  $1.50;  half-pound,  80  cents. 

Cummings'  Grit  Varnish, 

Per  bottle,  40  cents. 

Hance's  Silver  Spray  Gun  Cotton, 

Per  ounce,  50  cents. 

Hance's  Delicate  Cream  Gun  Cotton, 

Per  ounce,  80  cents. 

Gill's  Concentrated  Chromo  Intensifier, 

Per  bottle,  50  cents. 

Hance's  Ground- Glass  Substitute, 

Per  bottle,  50  cents. 

Hance's  Bath  Preservative  Vx^J^S^^ 

Per  bottle,  $1.00. 

TRADE  MARK  -.—THE  BEST  GOODS— FULL  MEASURE. 

TRY     HANCE'S     PHOTOGRAPHIC     SPECIALTIES. 

See  Testimonials  in  former  and  future  advertisements. 

ALFRED  L.  HANCE,  Manufacturer, 

126  North  Seventh  St.,  Philada. 
SCOVILL  MF'&  CO.,  TRADE  AGENTS,  NEW  YORK. 
208 


PHOTOGRAPHERS,  ATTENTION ! 

YOU  NEED  NOT  BUY  THE  GLACE,  CALIFORNIA,  OR  ANY 
OTHER  ENAMEL  PROCESS.  EXAMINE  THE  NEW 

Enameled  AND  Embossed 

SOUVENIR 

PHOTOGRAPHS, 

AND  PATENT  IMPROVED  PRESSES  FOR  MOULDING  THEM, 

INTRODUCED  BY 

Messrs.  E.  L.  BRAND  &  CO., 
596  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago, 

FULL  INSTRUCTIONS  SUPPLIED  GRATIS! 


Messrs.  E.  L.  BRAND  &  CO.  desire  to  state  to  Photographers  that  they  pur- 
chased the  process  for  making  the  SOUVENIR  photographs  in  France ,  but 
finding  it  incomplete  and  impracticable,  they  have  diligently  experimented 
•until  they  have  a  perfect  process.  But  after  all,  the  great  desideratum  is  a 
properly  constructed  PRESS  for  moulding  the  pictures,  or  in  other 
ivords,  raising  them  in  cameo  style.  Such  a  machine  Messrs.  Brand  &  Co. 
have  perfected,  and  offer  to  the  photographers  at  popular  prices. 

They  are  complete  in  themselves,  and  embodying  a  press  and  dies  of  all  popu- 
lar sizes.  They  are  made  on  entirely  new  principles,  and  will  commend  them- 
selves to  all  who  see  them.  They  were  shown  at 


The  Chicago  NPJ  Convention, 


where  a  room  was  furnished  in  the  Exposition  Building  for  the  accommodation  of  those 
who  wished  to  learn  how  to  make  the  Souvenir  Photographs  without  charge. 

They  are  going  to  be  the  leading  picture,  and  will  pay  a  splendid  profit.  Do 
not  pay  for  any  process  until  you  see  ours,  with  its  many  improvements,  for  we  can 
give  you  the  best  process  in  the  world,  GRATIS.  For  further  particulars,  address 

E.  L.  BRAND  &  CO., 
596  Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

16  209 


IMPROVED  PHOTOGRAPH  COVERS 

Frequent  inquiries  for  something  at  a  much  lower  price  than  an  album,  for  the  holding 
together  and  preservation  of  photographs,  has  induced  us  to  manufacture  an  article  which 
we  think  will  meet  the  want.  They  are  made  with  expanding  backs,  so  that  from  six  to 
twenty-four  pictures  may  be  inserted  in  one  cover.  The  pictures  are  mounted  in  the  usual 
way,  and  then  strips  of  linen,  or  strong  paper,  of  the  proper  width,  are  pasted  on  one  edge, 
by  which  the  picture  is  inserted  and  held  in  place  in  the  cover  by  a  paper  fastener.  For 
binding  together  views  of  your  town  or  city,  or  portraits  of  celebrities,  they  are  very  neat. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  sizes  and  prices,  without  cards: 

For  Photograph.  Per  dozen.  Per  hundred. 

Card  size $1  50    $1000 

Cabinet  size 2  25     13  50 

EXTRA  HEAVY  COVERS. 

5-8  size $450    $33  00 

4-4    "     6  00     40  00 

8-10  "     8  00     56  50 

Larger  or  special  sizes  made  to  order.  Furnished  with  card  board  at  best  rate.  Samples 
mailed  at  dozen  price. 


GRISWOLD'SUECOMPOSITIONS 

FOR  THE  STEREOSCOPE. 

CATALOGUE.— 1.  Blowing  Bubbles.  2.  B  stands  for  Bumble-B.  3.  Blackberry  Blossoms. 
4.  The  Hen's  Nest.  5.  Let  us  have  Piece.  6.  Mamma,  where  was  I  when  you  were  a  little 
girl?  7.  Our  Domestic's  Relations.  8.  She  Went  to  the  Butcher's.  9.  My  Lady  and  My 
Lady's  Maid.  10.  The  Mountain  Spring.  11.  Unveiling  a  Statue  of  Young  America.  12. 
Young  America  in  the  Nursery.  13.  Young  America  as  an  Artist.  14.  Young  America 
Asleep.  15.  The  Sunbeam  Fairy.  16.  The  Picture  Book.  17.  Sitting  for  my  Picture.  18. 
Young  America  Bathing.  19.  Young  Boston's  Ambition.  20.  Ding,  dong,  ding,  Music  on  a 
Rubber  String.  21.  Reflection.  22.  The  Loiterers.  23.  The  Cabin  Porch.  24.  Beatrice 
Shoo-Fly.  25.  Home  Group.  26.  A  View.  27.  The  Gleaner. 

Sent  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price.  $2.00  per  dozen.  Order  by  number.  Dealers  supplied 
on  good  terms. 

These  inimitable  pictures  are  all  natural  compositions,  and  touch  the  tender  chords  of 
human  nature  most  wonderfully.  They  are  attractive  to  every  one  who  has  a  heart,  but 
particularly  instructive  as  studies  for  photographers,  in  grouping,  posing,  and  composition.  They 
will  help  any  man  make  better  and  easier  pictures  of  children,  and  should  be  studied. 


THE  PRIZE  PICTURES. 

In  order  that  photographers  may  have  an  early  opportunity  of  studying  the  very  elegant 
pictures  from  negatives  which  have  been  sent  to  us  in  competition  for  our  Gold  Medal,  we 
publish  them  for  sale.  There  are  Thirty  Pictures  in  a  Set— of  men,  women,  and 
children,  groups  and  single  figures.  Three  negatives  or  more  were  sent  by  each  competitor. 
The  sets  include  one  example  from  each  competitor.  All  the  duplicates  may  be  had  to  order. 
For  a  list  see  advertisement  in  the  Philadelphia  Photographer. 

A  Set  of  Thirty  in  the  Improved  Photograph  Cover....  $4  25* 

"       without        "  "       3  75 

Selections,  per  do/en 2  00 

Every  operator  and  every  printer  should  get  and  study  them. 

BENERMAN  &  WILSON,  Photo.  Publishers, 

Seventh  &  Cherry  Sts.,  Philadelphia- 
210 


ROBI  N  SO  N'S 


Photograph   Trimmer, 

SAVES  TIME,  SAVES  PRINTS,  AND  SAVES  MONEY, 

See  what  is  said  on  page  98  of  this  work. 


For  examples  of  its  work 
we  refer  to  the  recent  and 
present  pictures  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Photographer. 

The  accompanying  cut  rep- 
resents the  instrument  in  the 
act  of  trimming  a  photograph. 
It  does  not  cut  but  pinches  off 
the  waste  paper,  and  leaves 
the  print  with  a  neatly  beveled 
edge  which  facilitates  the  ad- 
herence of  the  print  to  the 
mount.  Try  one,  and  you 
will  discard  the  knife  and 
punch  at  once. 

Oil  the  wheel  bearings  with  Sewing 
Machine  Oil. 


A  TRIMMER   MAILED    FOR   $3.6O. 


The  difficulty  of  procuring  exactly  true  guides  for  cutting  out  prints  has  induced 
the  inventor  to  put  up  machinery  for  the  production  of  all  styles  of  them,  guaranteed 
mathematically  true,  and  to  be  known  as 

ROBINSON'S  IMPROVED  GUIDES. 

Oval,  round,  and  square,  of  all  sizes;  various  shapes  for  stereoscopic  work,  drug 
labels,  &c.,  &c. 

Price,  for  regular  photo,  sizes,  10  cents  per  inch  the  longest  way  of  the  aperture. 
Special  sizes,  15  cents  per  inch. 


READ     THE    TESTIMONIALS. 


"I  would  rather  give  fifty  dollars  than  be  with- 
out one.  By  its  use  all  annoyance  from  dull 
knives  tearing  the  prints  is  avoided,  and  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  use  it."— E.  T.  WHITNEY,  Norwalk, 

"In  the  few  months  that  we  have  owned  it  we 
cut  some  10,000  photographs  with  it,  which  were 
cut  in  one-fourth  the  time,  and  cut  better  than 
any  other  instrument  could  do  it."— SOHEEIBBE 
&  SOHS,  Philadelphia. 


"I  like  them  very  much;  they  are  just  what  I 
wanted  and  found  it  difficult  to  get."— J.  W. 
BLACK,  Boston. 

"lam  using  the  Robinson  Trimmer  and  con- 
sider it  the  best  article  for  trimming  photographs 
I  ever  saw."— W.  H.  EHOADS,  Philadelphia. 

"The  Kobinson  Trimmer  works  admirably. 
Does  the  work  intended  with  great  satisfaction." 
A.  K.  P.  TEASK,  Philadelphia. 


BENERMAN  &  WILSON,  Manufacturer's  Agents,   - 
FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  DEALERS.  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

211 


WAYMOUTH'S 


VIGN   g   ETTE 


s 

PH 


See  what  is  said  about  them  on  page  64  of  this  book'. 


The  clumsy  devices  generally  in  use  for  printing  vignettes,  or  rather  for 
blending  the  shading  about  the  figure,  produce  but  very  few  really  artistic 
vignette  pictures.  Either  the  shading  is  too  intensely  dark,  not  gradated  in 
tint  at  all,  or  it  shows  an  ugly,  direct,  decided  line,  which  is  very  repulsive. 
The  shading  should  blend  gradually  from  the  dark  tint  nearest  to  the  figure, 
off  into  the  white  background.  The  results  are  then  soft,  artistic,  and  beauti- 
ful. The  easiest  and  best  way  to  secure  them  is  by  the  use  of 

WAYMOUTH'S  VIGNETTE  PAPERS. 

They  are  not  clumsy  ;  do  not  break  ;  are  always  ready  ;  cost  but  little,  and 
are  easy  of  application  to  any  negative. 

THEY  NEED  BUT  ONE  ADJUSTMENT 

TO  PEINT  ANY  QUANTITY. 

They  entirely  do  away  with  all  the  old  and  troublesome  methods,  either 
wood,  metal,  or  cotton.  SAMPLES  GIVEN  FKEE.  Eighteen  sizes  are 
now  made,  suiting  all  dimensions  of  pictures  from  a  small  carte  figure  to 
Whole-size,  Victorias,  Cabinets,  &c.  They  are  printed  in  black  for  ordinary 
negatives,  yellow  bronze  for  thin  negatives,  and  red  bronze  for  still  weaker 
ones.  Directions  for  use  accompany  each  parcel. 


Prices  : 

,  Nos.  1  to  15,  as: 

per  package  of 

Nos.  1.  2,  3,  4,  and 5,  assorted  sizes  and  colors,  for  cartes,  by  number,  per  dozen '.'.'.'. 

"     6,  7, 11,  12,  and  13    "  "    large  cartes  and  victorias,  by  number,  prdoz., 

"     8, 9,  10,  14,  and  15    "  "    cabinets  and  whole-size  "  "        l 


In  parcels  containing  one  of  each  size,  Nos.  1  to  15,  assorted  colors $1  00 

Assorted  sizes  and  colors,  by  number,  per  package  of  fifteen 1  00 

50 
75 
00 
16. 17,  and  18,  "    half  "  "        l  25 

When  ordering  state  the  number  and  color  yon  want. 

BENERMAN  &  WILSON,  Manufacturers, 

Seventh  &  Cherry  Sts.,  Philadelphia. 

FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  DEALERS. 

212 


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